YB Zulkifili Nordin (PKR - Kulim Bandar Baru) walked into Parliament yesterday as I was debating the National Kenaf and Tobacco Board Bill. His sudden appearance in Parliament having gone MIA after being prominent in the protest against the Bar Council on 9 August puts to rest the ridiculous rumour spread by the Opposition that YB Zulkifli was detained under the Internal Security Act. In fact, I suspect that rumour was initiated by YB Zulkifli himself to deflect from mounting criticism within his own party over his role in the demonstration.

I also note with interest that notwithstanding the PKR leadership's censure of YB Zulkifli's actions, he remained unrepentant and defiant when launching further attacks on the Bar Council . Although YB Zulkifli has refused to back down and toe the party line, PKR Chief Whip, YB Azmin Ali (PKR - Gombak) has let YB Zulkifli off the hook by accepting his explanation. It seems YB Azmin's decision to allow YB Zulkifli to continue to maintain his position against the Bar Council is inconsistent with the stand of the PKR and Pakatan Rakyat leadership.

This is not about whether YB Zulkifli is right or wrong. This is about the fundamental ties that bind this so-called political coalition that has designs on running this country very soon. Why is the silence of the Pakatan Rakyat leadership deafening in the face of YB Zukifli's open defiance of his own party's censure? Why is the normally glib YB Lim Kit Siang (DAP - Ipoh Timor) not chastising YB Zulkifli for defending his action at the Bar Council which was condemned by many DAP leaders? Is the self-proclaimed PM-in-waiting, Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim, unable to prevent his own MP from repeatedly breaking ranks with the party line?

Let's not forget that YB Zulkifli was not alone at the protest outside the Bar Council. YB Salahuddin Ayub (PAS - Kubang Kerian) was also present to lend his support to the demonstrators. What are the views of YBs Lim (Senior and Junior) on YB Salahuddin's presence at the Bar Council? Or is it more silence? Is DAP's deafening silence over the YB Zulkifli issue a signal that DAP is willing to compromise its stand for the sake of keeping up Pakatan pretenses in its quest for power? YB Lim Senior should spend less time obsessing about Gerakan's role in Barisan Nasional and focus his jurassic energies on preventing a rupture in Pakatan Rakyat.

Already PAS has made clear in no uncertain terms that it is unhappy with the overbearing dominance of PKR and DAP in states governed by the PR alliance. Its senior leaders have also questioned publicly Dato' Seri Anwar's suitability in becoming the Pakatan Rakyat nominee for PM if the mythical 16 September materializes. Similarly, there is no love lost between DAP leaders and PAS and it is well-known that the two parties are only tolerating one another for the sake of power.

Add to this underlying tension the latest episode involving YB Zulkifli. Pakatan Rakyat leaders can extend their deafening silence for now. Dato' Seri Anwar and YBs Lim will skirt and fudge the YB Zulkifli issue because they don't want to address it during the Permatang Pauh by-elections. They want to keep up pretenses, showing the nation that everything is hunky dory in the Pakatan Rakyat camp. They are willing to suspend principles for politics by not addressing the YB Zulkifli issue head on, just like Dato' Seri Anwar fudged his response on the proceedings at the PAS Muktamar last week.

Well, obfuscate all you want but the writing is on the wall. The marriage of convenience has been exposed for the sham that it is. The deafening silence over the YB Zulkifli issue by Dato' Seri Anwar and DAP will only succeed in postponing the inevitable. For all its talk of a new Malaysia and a real alternative against BN, Pakatan Rakyat remains a politically expedient arrangement among strange bedfellows bound not by a shared ideology but by a common lust for power. The rupture has begun.