The ongoing negotiations between DAP and PKR over the distribution of seats in the coming general election has hit a snag.

Problems have surfaced in the talks, which kicked off in July, over seats in several states, especially Penang.

On Sunday, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng announced that DAP will contest seven parliamentary and 22 state seats in Penang. This is an additional two state seats from what the party had vied for in the 2004 polls.

While Lim did not indicate which are the two additional seats and said the figures are still subject to talks with PKR, Chinese dailies quoted sources as saying that these were seats PKR had given to DAP.

The dailies also released a list of DAP candidates for the 29 seats. Lim's name was also on the list, which did not specify who is standing where.

PKR's response

However, PKR Penang chief Zahrain Mohamed Hassim said the opposition front Barisan Alternatif (BA) - comprising PKR and PAS - will not budge from its target to contest seven parliamentary and 20 state seats.

In the 2004 election, PKR contested in five parliamentary and 16 state seats in Penang while PAS two and seven respectively.

"PKR Penang held a special meeting with the party's central leadership last night in view of the questions and confusions that arose from the PKR-DAP talks for seat distribution in Penang," said Zahrain in a statement today.

A list of the seats which BA intends to contest was also released together with the media statement.

While the exact number of overlapping seats is not clear, it is most likely that the Batu Kawan parliamentary seat and Bukit Tambun state seat are included.

Penang has a total of 13 parliamentary and 40 seats. The state is considered as a front-line state for both PKR and DAP. Political pundits have predicted a swing in the Chinese votes for the opposition.

Other states

Apart from Penang, the DAP-PKR talks also saw problems on overlapping seats in Perak, Sabah and Sarawak.

Other problems include the rumour that DAP is unhappy with PKR's announcement to field its treasurer William Leong to contest for the Segambut parliamentary seat in Kuala Lumpur. DAP had contested this seat in the previous election.

Contacted later, PKR vice-president Dr Lee Boon Chye said the DAP secretary-general had breached the ' gentleman's agreement ' between the two parties on not to release details of the talk until a consensus is reached.

At the outset of the talks, both parties said "strict confidentiality" will be observed and any public announcement will only be made after a consensus is reached.

Only Lim, PKR leaders Anwar Ibrahim and Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail were authorised to make statements to the media.

"Lim as a DAP leader is a party to this agreement but now he is breaching it," said Lee, who heads the PKR negotiation team in the talks.

He claimed that PKR grassroots were unhappy as the party leadership is seen as giving in too much to DAP.

"We can't blame them because the number of seats that were announced by DAP differed from what has been agreed upon," he added.

Not much progress

While Lee denied that the talks have collapsed, he nevertheless conceded that no much progress has been made regarding seat distribution in Penang, Perak, Sabah and Sarawak.

He also revealed that the two parties have not met since their last meeting in mid-July.

Responding to this, Lim denied he had breached the 'gentleman's agreement'.

"The agreement says it allows me, Anwar and Wan Azizah to speak to the media but it never said we cannot talk about the number of seats.

"The number of seats in Penang was a proposal because I said it was still subject to negotiations with PKR. It is better (for Lee) to check the facts first," he said.

Lim also denied that DAP released a list of candidates for Penang to the media and described the reports as mere 'speculation' by the media.

He sidestepped another question on the problems reported in the seat talks involving three other states.

However, the DAP politician said he was optimistic on concluding the talks on a happy note. "I believe matured politicians like me and Anwar will come out with some sort of agreement."