MUAR: Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM)’s hope to rebrand the Opposition as a single coalition will not materialise before or even after the general election, says MCA president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

He said the Opposition parties could not reach a consensus among themselves, not only on seat allocations, but also on other issues such as the proposed amendments to the Syariah Court (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act or RUU 355.

“Pribumi chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad even had different views with its president (Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin) and yet they are talking of rebranding Pakatan Harapan into a single coalition,” Liow told reporters after attending a dialogue session with non-governmental organisations here as part of the MCA Stronger Together carnival.

He said cracks had started to appear within Pakatan parties, particularly DAP, where members voiced their dissatisfaction over the relationship that they had forged with Dr Mahathir.

Last Sunday, 182 Malacca DAP members, including six branch chairmen led by its former state vice-chairman Liou Chen Kuang, resigned en masse in protest.

Last month four senior Malacca DAP members – Kota Melaka MP Sim Tong Him and three assemblymen – also quit the party.

“The relationship between parties in Pakatan is only a marriage of convenience, as their only ambition is to beat Barisan Nasional.

“But even if they did succeed, fights among themselves will continue,” said Liow.

He added that history would repeat itself in Pakatan with one of the parties leaving the coalition due to disagreements.

It was reported that Pribumi would make a formal request to join Pakatan, but it also wanted the coalition to rebrand itself into a single coalition as a strategy to ensure a straight fight against Barisan at the general election.

Pakatan is currently made up of DAP, PKR and Amanah.-thestar