DAP organising secretary Anthony Loke said Pakatan Rakyat is powerless to take disciplinary action against PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang for defying the opposition coalition because Pakatan's status as a registered organisation is still in limbo.

 

According to Sinar Harian Online , their pending registration with Registrar of Societies (ROS) is a stumbling block, since the coalition does not have a binding constitution at present.

 

Therefore, Loke told Sinar , Pakatan cannot act against the insistence by Hadi ( right ) to go against the common framework to push for his private member’s bill to implement hudud in Kelantan, as there is no regulation to govern this.

 

However, said Loke, this does not mean coalition leaders should go against the principles and ethics that bind the coalition that was formed prior to the political tsunami of the 2008 general election.

 

“It is up to (PAS), for this involves the integrity and ethics of a leader.

 

“This is based on trust. Political leaders should rightfully not go against a common agreement because it contravenes political ethics and trust among the leaders (of the coalition),” Loke said.

Hadi central to growing friction in Pakatan

 

Hadi is central to the growing friction between PAS and its Pakatan partners for refusing to commit to its leadership council meetings and for going against the Pakatan common policy framework by pushing ahead with hudud implementation.

 

Last February, Pakatan complained that ROS has still not approved its application to be registered as a political coalition.

 

At that time, Loke was reported saying they had applied at least three times for the registration of the coalition comprising DAP, PAS, and PKR.

 

Despite garnering more than 50 percent of the popular vote in the last general election and governing three states, Pakatan till today remains an informal pact among the three parties as a result of its registration problem and is not able to use a common logo during elections.