Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) may be a splinter party of PAS but former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim believes it will strengthen the national opposition, together with PKR, PAS and DAP.
"Amanah will further strengthen the national opposition, together with PKR, PAS, DAP. And we will expand this cooperation to other committed NGOs that share our common objectives.
"The focus now is to offer the rakyat a viable alternative, based on rule of law and democratic values," the jailed PKR de facto leader said in a statement conveyed through his lawyers, which was released late last night.
Anwar, who is also PKR de facto leader, said this in response of former PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu's announcement on Monday on the formation of Amanah.
"The formation of a new opposition party committed to change and reform augurs well for the mature politics of democratic accountability," he said.
There have been concerns that PAS and Amanah may be engaged in three-cornered fights in the coming general election, thus weakening the national opposition.
Concerns have also b een expressed that PAS, which may be upset at PKR for supporting Amanah, may also engage its former Pakatan Rakyat partner in three-cornered fights, further aggravating the situation.
It remains to be seen if PAS can reconcile with Amanah and also with its former Pakatan partners PKR and DAP.
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