What now for Pakatan?

The much-awaited trial is now over.

The former leader of the Malaysian Federal opposition and de facto chief of PKR Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's five years jail was upheld by the Federa Court yesterday.

And there will be another five years of him being banned from politics upon his release. And we will not be seeing the senior politician back in action for at most a decade if at all.

With his incarceration, his Permatang Pauh MP chair, head of parliament opposition, PKR chief as well as the Selangor state economic advisor, are now left void.

Could be worse. It could be ISIS.

Ribbing our Defense Minister aside, the question now is simply what is next for the Pakatan allied parties. Will they all squabble over the carcass like vultures or is there already a contingency plan underway?

The weeks - if not days - forward will be proof of the stability of a coalition that shows cracks after two general elections.

Pakatan needs to survive this trial and prove itself more than a mere house of cards propped up by one man. The ugly truth is neither party in the coalition by itself can be as successful as they are as a united entity.

While the DAP is making headway into the Malay community particularly in the urban areas, PAS still remains the only party to reach the rural masses.

And truthfully, while PKR in itself is the weakest link among the three politically, it was the only one able to bring both sides to the table and mediate their differences for their common goal.

There is no denying that this was the greatest success of Anwar Ibrahim. His ability to navigate the murky political waters to bring together one side which wants God's law on earth together with a side that is akin to the American Republican Party, makes him legendary.

Say what you want about the guy, he was the great unifier that made the Opposition relevant enough to win 52 per cent of the popular vote even if he couldn’t flip the Parliament to form a government.

With him out of the equation for the next five years, which path will Pakatan take?

Will it disintegrate the ties that bind them, a repetition of the failure of the previous Barisan Alternatif (what known as Alternative Front in Malay).

Or will they be able to suck it up and move forward and prove once and for all that Malaysian politics has matured into a two coalition systems vying for power?

The top three issues of utmost importance are:

Who is the head of Opposition in Parliament?

Who will be Selangor’s new economic advisor?

Who will be contesting the Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat?

I wouldn’t know, but chances are we will be seeing the splitting up into two major factions in PAS or the overthrow of its president, a rise of a new liberal Malay Malaysian group in DAP and perhaps more sympathy for PKR if they toy with the 'emotional' card.

Can the vision of the 60 per cent win by Pakatan as predicted by Anwar come true? Perhaps not.

However, we are in for interesting times. While these thoughts focus on only one side of the political divide, the probabilities are high that the Barisan Nasional coalition is prime to make their moves right now to capitalise.

However, be forewarned. Neither side can claim the middle population for now.

The battle for the middle ground will not be won by troll tactics, though. It will instead be won by those who have kept to their promises, suggest changes to policies that promote the ability for people to voice their opinions without fear of reprisal, and the ability to uplift society from the burden of debt and lessen the cost of living.

As such, may the best coalition with the facts, figures, and the ability to keep their promises and get the groundwork moving faster win.