Fragmentation
From the very beginning, the alliance had been strained by PAS's unwillingness to publicly renounce its aim of making Malaysia an Islamic state, a position that was anathema to Malaysia's 45% non-Muslim minority, although a temporary compromise was achieved when PAS did not include the issue in the joint manifesto.
However, the strain increased after PAS's election victory and the minority parties' realization that they were losing votes to the fear of an Islamic state. Shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks, the DAP announced its withdrawal from the Barisan Alternatif on September 21, 2001.
The split has led to infighting between the opposition parties in the 2004 general election. As they could not agree in the allocation of seats in each state, many seats had multiple contestants. Ties between Keadilan and PAS were also strained, as was evident in PAS' refusal to support Parti Rakyat Malaysia's bid in the Kota Bharu parliamentary seat.
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