The six reformasi activists who are serving a two year detention order under the Internal Security Act today urged opposition parties, Keadilan and DAP, to patch up and resolve their differences.

The detainees conveyed this message through their legal counsel M Kulasegaran who visited them at the Kamunting Detention Centre in Perak.

Kulasegaran, who is also an ex-DAP member of Parliament, told malaysiakini that the six felt the time was right for the two parties to start discussions.

They asked me to convey to the party leaders that they wish to see DAP and Keadilan work closely as both parties have many similarities he said.

Barisan Nasional is the common enemy, they said, so the two parties should be able to come to a common agreement on various issues, he added.

The six Ô Keadilan leaders Tian Chua, Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor, Saari Sungib, Dr Badrul Hisham Baharon, Lokman Noor Adam and malaysiakini writer-cum-filmmaker Hishammuddin Rais — were detained last year for allegedly planning to topple the government through militancy.

Keadilan and DAP — former partners in the Barisan Alternatif coalition together with PAS and PRM — have been at loggerheads since Negeri Sembilans Teluk Kemang by-election in July 2000, where both parties wanted to contest.

Similar woes arose during the Nov 2000 Lunas by-election in Kedah. In both instances, DAP had to make way for Keadilan.

The relationship worsened when DAP refused to assist Keadilan in this Januarys Indera Kayangan by-election in Perlis.

Review time

Meanwhile, Kulasegaran today also complained that the authorities at the Kamunting centre only permit him to visit his clients briefly.

We had always had unlimited access, even during the 1987 Operasi Lalang [where 107 political and social activists were arrested in an ISA crackdown] but not these days, said Kulasegaran.

The presence of police officers during my time with my clients also hampers the solicitor-client confidentiality, he added, urging authorities to review the time limit set for discussions between the detainees and their legal counsels.

On another matter, Kulasegaran said the six lauded the release of Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi after 19 months of house arrest.

The six, he added, asked the Malaysian government to do the same by releasing them unconditionally or charging them for their alleged crimes.