No threats over seats, Pakatan top guns warned

Opposition chief Anwar Ibrahim warned party members and leaders today not to threaten the leadership when they fail to secure a seat for the coming general election.

He described the episodes of arguing over seats as a "small problem" in Pakatan, saying every party felt its candidate was most winnable, and that it could secure more votes.

But these were the kind of folk who complained that there would be no support from certain ethnic or religious groups if their parties were not allotted the seats they were eyeing, Anwar (left) added.

"These kind of people are shallow minded and fail to see the big picture that we have to fight for Putrajaya together," he told a 600-strong crowd at Pakatan's state-level convention in Komtar today.

"One may demand or pressure, but don't ever threaten. The competition is already too close. Do not sacrifice everything, including your party principles merely for one seat," cautioned the former deputy prime minister.

During his speech, Anwar cited the case of Gelang Patah in Johor where an open quarrel broke out between DAP state chief Boo Cheng Hau and his PKR counterpart, Chua Jui Meng.

Hot seat cools down

Boo has since backed down from wanting Chua dropped from Gelang Patah, and expressed his devotion to Pakatan.

Anwar was quick to explain that he mentioned Gelang Patah as it was the seat most hotly debated last month when the duo staked  their rights to the constituency.

"When you ask PKR, they claim it is theirs, when you ask DAP, they also claim it is theirs... I now like to wait for PAS to assert their claims," he added, sparking laughter from the crowd.

"But let me tell you, there may be rumblings on the ground, but at the leadership level, between me, DAP senior adviser Lim Kit Siang and PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, we are okay," he added.

Anwar maintained that the relationship among the party leaders was good because they were not arrogant wiith each other, and their friendship was based on trust.

Issues affecting the coalition are often discussed among friends, not as party officials as he felt this was a better strategy to keep the coalition intact.

"For example, I do not see Guan Eng as purely the Penang chief minister, a DAP leader or a pure Chinese, I see him as a real friend," the Permatang Pauh MP said.

"We do not only share state or parliamentary issues but personal problems as well. This is real, I did not make it up", he added, saying his wife, PKR president Wan Azizah Wan Ismail is often seen defending Guan Eng whenever he came under attack.

"We are not perfect, we have weaknesses, including our own performance. But I must say, not just as an observer but as a former deputy prime minister and ex-Umno leader, Penang now is the best I have seen, and this is based on facts".