While the transitional line-up of Parti Keadilan Rakyat arising from the merging of Keadilan and PRM is yet to be finalised, at least one party leader is sure his name won't be there.

Keadilan supreme council member Ng Lum Yong told malaysiakini today that he wished to be excluded from consideration in the leadership of the new party.

He said he has contributed four years of his time and energy to Keadilan since its birth in 1999 and "it is time younger leaders led the party".

The new line-up, to comprise 60 leaders from both parties, is expected to be revealed on Jan 18 by Keadilan president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and PRM president Dr Syed Husin Ali.

Though Ng declined to comment further on his 'withdrawal', he had earlier expressed dissatisfaction with the party, especially its performance in Sabah's Gaya parliamentary seat by-election in October.

In a statement released to the press today, but which was allegedly distributed to all supreme council members last month, Ng said DAP's better performance compared with Keadilan's points to the unpopularity of the latter's stand on the Islamic state issue.

Call for courage

"In Gaya, DAP proved that its strategy (campaigning against PAS' Islamic state proposal) can indeed bring about positive results, especially in non-Malay areas," he said.

In the by-election, Keadilan's candidate Christina Liew garnered only 2,613 votes and lost her deposit while DAP's Hiew King Cheu fared better with 3,716 votes. Barisan Nasional's Liew Teck Chan polled 15,639 votes to win the seat.

Political observers say that PAS' insistence on establishing an Islamic state and imposing the hudud law has been a liability for the other component parties in the BA Keadilan and PRM. It also precipitated DAP's departure from the front in September last year.

Keadilan has said that it respected the right of the Terengganu and Kelantan state governments to implement the hudud laws and that "no Muslim can reject the syariah laws as it is an obligation under Islam".

Ng, who was part of the party's campaign team for the Oct 12 by-election, said the people had expected the reformasi movement and Keadilan to bring about a new, multiracial politics.

Instead, Keadilan, with all its internal problems and factions, has evoked negative reactions, especially from non-Malays and moderate middle-and upper-class Malays, said Ng.

"We thought by taking the challenge of a three-corner fight (in Gaya), DAP might be persuaded to unite with us under the Barisan Alternatif (BA) banner. But it seems that DAP has actually made Keadilan realise that it should leave PAS (BA) and merge with DAP," he said.

Ng said Keadilan should be courageous enough to disagree with PAS on issues that clearly contradict the party's multiracial policies.

"As long as the disagreement is not too extreme that it becomes a direct and strong attack on PAS," he qualified.

Keadilan secretary-general Sahri Bahari declined to comment, saying he would do so after going through Ng's statement.

Genuine concern

When contacted in Kota Kinabalu, Liew dismissed Ng's statement as "another viewpoint".

Liew said Ng should not base his views on the election results alone as she said it was an "unresolved dispute" whether the Gaya by-election was conducted fairly.

"There are still complaints about phantom voters, and voters had called us afterwards saying that they are unable to trace their names at the polling station," said Liew.

However, she conceded that PAS' insistence on propagating its views have had some effect on the voters.

"That is undeniable. But it [can also be tempered by] how Keadilan is able to explain the issues to the people and convince them [of their stand]," she said.

In an immediate response, DAP secretary-general Kerk Kim Hock said that the party's rejection of PAS was not about gaining votes but a genuine concern about the viability of Malaysia becoming an Islamic state as proposed by PAS.

"For an opposition coalition to be viable, credible and effective, it must be moderate and have a multiracial participation, which is why when we were in BA, we kept stressing that Keadilan must take the lead as it is seen to have a moderate image," Kerk said.

However, he added, "the result has proven otherwise".

Kerk also stressed that the question of DAP returning to BA does not arise though the party is prepared to negotiate with Keadilan on seat allocations come the next general election, widely expected to be held next year.