Pakatan Harapan minus PAS, will it work this time?

On Tuesday, a new Opposition pact was formed, comprising DAP, Parti Amanah Rakyat (Amanah) and Parti Keadilan Rakyat. The new pact is called Pakatan Harapan, or a pact of hope and will replace Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

The defunct PR was a coalition which was walking on eggshells most of time due to the stormy relationship between then-allies DAP and Islamic party, PAS.

The PR pact seemed doomed since its inception, shortly after the 2013 general elections. DAP and PAS were always bickering about various issues like hudud, the sale of alcohol, moral policing, gambling and concerts, while PKR seemed to have its own internal issues, especially it's de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

When Anwar was jailed for sodomy in February, the cracks within the pact widened and without him holding the pact together, the death was almost natural.

Talk of a new coalition to replace PR began almost immediately after PR was declared defunct by DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.

Both the DAP and PKR know that the coalition needs PAS in order to win the Malay voters but PAS’s style and its stand over several issues does not gel with the concept of Malaysia that DAP had envisioned. And so, Amanah was formed, comprising several key leaders from PAS who lost in their party elections in June.

Some of the key PAS leaders who ditched the Islamic party to join Amanah include former PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu (who is now heading Amanah) former vice-president Salahudin Ayub and former committee member Dr Hatta Ramli.

PAS, understandably furious, has vowed that there will not be any political cooperation with Amanah, whose members it has deemed as traitors.

So the new pact now comprises PKR, DAP and Amanah. With PAS now out of the equation, will the new pact be able to get its act together and offer itself as a viable alternative to the ruling coalition?

If the answer is no, well, it wouldn't be the first time that the 'harapan' of the Opposition is dashed. Remember Gagasan Rakyat and Barisan Alternatif? Both failed over differing ideas and conflicting struggles.

Pakatan Harapan has promised a written binding agreement and clear policies to glue the pact together. PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail has also promised to minimise room for ambiguity.

Old wine in new bottle? Only time will tell.