A real carnival atmosphere was evident at PKR's de facto Anwar Ibrahim's house in Segambut last night. The reason was obvious - the party has had its best ever results in a general election, winning 31 parliamentary and 40 state seats.

The manner in which the party's new Yang Berhormats patted each other on the back and shook hands, it was evident that this was a significant achievement for the party.

More interestingly, they had achieved this as a single party with three different races fighting on issues for everyone instead of their own communities.

The modest dinner to congratulate all the winners last night looked more like conference for activists with R Sivarasa, Elizabeth Wong, Wee Choo Keong, Dr Syed Husin Ali, the new Selangor MB designate Khalid Ibrahim than a gathering of politicians.

Not until Anwar entered the stage did the event carry an air of politics. Nevertheless, after a quick round to congratulate the winners and console the less fortunate, the PKR de facto leader got down to business straight away.

With everyone ushered into his living room, the 60-year-old restored order with a quick, "Yang Berhormats, kita dah nak bermula. (YBs, we are about to start)"

"We called this meeting to meet all the Parliament and state representatives, to remind them of their commitment to a reform agenda."

"This is a historic moment and marks the beginning of a new era for the country, PKR and our political partners. We won because of the support and the aspirations of all the different races."

"Our representatives will be constantly reminded that the mandate is given by all Malaysians and not any specific race," said Anwar.

The party's main priority

While he admitted that race-base politics are still a factor in Malaysia, he hoped that PKR's multi-ethnic platform will be the base for an alternative vision.

"The assumption that this party cannot exists by analysts is flawed. What they attempted to do was to compare us to what Onn