Pakatan Harapan facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Pakatan Harapan
English name	Alliance of Hope
Abbreviation	PH
President	Wan Azizah Wan Ismail
Chairman	Anwar Ibrahim
Deputy President	Anthony Loke Siew Fook Mohamad Sabu Ewon Benedick
Founded	22 September 2015 (2015-09-22)
Legalised	16 May 2018 (2018-05-16)
Preceded by	Pakatan Rakyat
Headquarters	A-1-09 Merchant Square, Jalan Tropicana Selatan 1, 47410 Petaling Jaya (PH Secretariat and PKR) Kuala Lumpur (DAP and AMANAH) Penampang (UPKO)
Newspaper	The Rocket RoketKini Suara Keadilan Media Oren Harapan Daily Kenyalang Tribune Borneo Update
Student wing	Pakatan Harapan Students
Youth wing	Pakatan Harapan Youth
Women's wing	Pakatan Harapan Women
Ideology	Social liberalism Social democracy Progressivism
Political position	Centre-left
National affiliation	National Unity Government (since 2022)
Regional affiliation	Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (since 2023)
Colours	Red      White
Dewan Negara	18 / 70
Dewan Rakyat	81 / 222
State Legislative Assemblies	141 / 611
Chief minister of states	3 / 13
Election symbol
(except DAP Sarawak) (DAP Sarawak only)
Party flag
Website
Political parties

Pakatan Harapan (PH), which means Alliance of Hope in English, is a group of political parties in Malaysia. It was formed in 2015. This group works together to achieve common goals in the country's government.

Pakatan Harapan is currently the largest group in the Dewan Rakyat, which is like Malaysia's House of Representatives. They have 81 seats. They are also part of the government in seven out of 13 states in Malaysia. These states include Penang, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Perak, Pahang, Malacca, and Sabah.

The main parties in Pakatan Harapan are the Democratic Action Party (DAP), People's Justice Party (PKR), National Trust Party (AMANAH), and United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (UPKO).

In the 2018 Malaysian general election, Pakatan Harapan won and became the ruling government. This was a big change because another group, Barisan Nasional, had been in power for 60 years. However, Pakatan Harapan's government ended in February 2020 due to some political changes.

After the 2022 Malaysian general election, no single group won enough seats to form a government on its own. So, Pakatan Harapan joined with several other groups to create a "national unity government." The leader of Pakatan Harapan, Anwar Ibrahim, became the Prime Minister.

History of Pakatan Harapan

How Pakatan Harapan Started

Pakatan Harapan was formed after an earlier political group called Pakatan Rakyat broke up. That group had three parties. But two of them, PAS and DAP, had disagreements, especially about religious laws. Because of these disagreements, Pakatan Rakyat ended in June 2015.

Then, in September 2015, a new group was formed. This new group, Pakatan Harapan, included some of the old parties and a new party called the National Trust Party. Later, in 2017, another party called the Malaysian United Indigenous Party (BERSATU), led by former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, also joined Pakatan Harapan.

Becoming the Government

Before the 2018 general election, Pakatan Harapan got ready to register as a formal group. Mahathir Mohamad became the chairman, and Wan Azizah Wan Ismail became the president. Even though the group faced some challenges with registration, they decided to use the logo of one of their main parties, PKR, for the election.

In the 2018 election on May 9, Pakatan Harapan won enough seats to form the government. This was a historic moment because it ended the 60-year rule of the Barisan Nasional group. After their victory, another party from Sabah also joined them to form the state government there. Pakatan Harapan also formed governments in several other states like Kedah, Penang, Perak, Selangor, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan, and Johor.

After their election win, Pakatan Harapan's registration was officially approved on May 17, 2018. During their time in power, they worked to make sure trials for corruption charges were fair and set up an independent anti-corruption group.

Losing Power

On February 24, 2020, Mahathir Mohamad unexpectedly resigned as Prime Minister. His party, BERSATU, left Pakatan Harapan, along with some members from the PKR party. This caused a political crisis because Pakatan Harapan no longer had enough support to stay in power.

Eventually, a new group called Perikatan Nasional formed a new government. Because of these changes, Pakatan Harapan lost control of the state governments in Johor, Malacca, Perak, and Kedah.

Returning to Power

In the 2022 Malaysian general election, Pakatan Harapan won the most seats, but not enough to form a government alone. So, they formed a "grand coalition" with other political groups, including Barisan Nasional. This new government is called the national unity government. The leader of Pakatan Harapan, Anwar Ibrahim, became the Prime Minister.

This new arrangement also happened at the state level. Pakatan Harapan is now part of the government in seven states. They also work with the government in Johor.

Member Parties

Pakatan Harapan is made up of several important political parties:

Flag	Name			Main Ideas	Political Stance	Leader(s)	Current seats	State Legislature seats
							Composition
Member parties
		KEADILAN	People's Justice Party Parti Keadilan Rakyat	Reformism Social liberalism	Centre-left	Anwar Ibrahim	31 / 81	38 / 611
		DAP	Democratic Action Party Parti Tindakan Demokratik	Social democracy Multiculturalism	Centre-left	Anthony Loke Siew Fook	40 / 81	90 / 611
		AMANAH	National Trust Party Parti Amanah Negara	Progressivism Islamic modernism	Centre-left	Mohamad Sabu	8 / 81	12 / 611
		UPKO	United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation Pertubuhan Kinabalu Progresif Bersatu	Sabah regionalism	N/A	Ewon Benedick	2 / 81	1 / 611

Former Member Party

• Malaysian United Indigenous Party (BERSATU), (2017–2020)

Leaders of Pakatan Harapan

Chairperson

No.	Name	Portrait	Time in Office		Political party
1	Mahathir Mohamad	Mahathir Mohamad	14 July 2017	24 February 2020	BERSATU
2	Anwar Ibrahim	Anwar Ibrahim	14 May 2020	Current	PKR

President

No.	Name	Portrait	Time in Office		Political party
1	Wan Azizah Wan Ismail	Wan Azizah Wan Ismail	14 July 2017	Current	PKR

Women Chiefs

Youth Chiefs

No.	Name	Portrait	Time in Office		Political party
1	Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad	Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad	31 October 2017	13 December 2018	PKR
2	Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman	Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman	13 December 2018	24 February 2020	BERSATU
3	Shazni Munir Mohd Ithnin		4 March 2021	6 August 2021	AMANAH
4	Howard Lee Chuan How	Howard Lee Chuan How	12 September 2021	29 July 2022	DAP
5	Kelvin Yii Lee Wuen	Kelvin Yii Lee Wuen	29 July 2022	11 March 2025	DAP
6	Woo Kah Leong	Woo Kah Leong	11 March 2025	Current	DAP

Pakatan Harapan in Government

Pakatan Harapan is part of the government at both the national and state levels in Malaysia.

National Government Roles

Pakatan Harapan holds many important positions in the national government, including the Prime Minister.

State Government Leaders

Pakatan Harapan also leads or is part of the government in several Malaysian states.

State	Leader Type	Member	Party		State Area
Negeri Sembilan	Menteri Besar	Aminuddin Harun		PKR	Sikamat
Penang	Chief Minister	Chow Kon Yeow		DAP	Padang Kota
Selangor	Menteri Besar	Amirudin Shari		PKR	Sungai Tua

Pakatan Harapan also works with other groups to form state governments in Pahang, Perak, Malacca, and Johor. In Sabah, they are part of the government with another group called Gabungan Rakyat Sabah.

Images for kids

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  Pakatan Harapan logo

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  Democratic Action Party Flag

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  People's Justice Party Flag

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  National Trust Party Flag