> Pakatan to create shadow cabinet

A beefed up Pakatan Rakyat has agreed to set up special panels in Parliament to shadow each ministry.

Fresh after winning its 82nd seat in Parliament with the Bukit Gantang victory, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today each panel will have a representative from each party.

"I have not announced these names yet but I will probably do so after our next meeting. The panels will have MPs heading them," he told reporters at the PKR headquarters here today.

Pakatan comprises PKR, DAP and PAS.

This is the second time that Anwar had promised to set up a shadow cabinet, with the first being after its historic gains in Election 2008 but it did not happen.

The three parliamentary by-election victories, one by PKR and two by PAS, have cemented ties among the three parties and the shadow cabinet is the next logical step, analysts said.

Anwar also said chief ministers and Mentris Besar in Pakatan Rakyat states were also discussing ways to work together to overcome the economic slowdown - The Malaysian Insider.