The Barisan Alternatif (BA) intention to contest 60 percent of the seats in Penang in the forthcoming general election has left DAP uneasy.

The party said the BA's announcement in Bukit Mertajam last Saturday may affect o­ngoing negotiations between opposition parties over the distribution of seats.

Bonus to BN

DAP publicity secretary Ronnie Liu said BA should not have announced the decision, because this implied that it was "not keen to negotiate with us".

"(Talking about) 60 percent is as good as taking over the state government...we will not take the decision seriously and we will not pick a fight with them about it, but it is not the right thing to do," Liu told malaysiakini .

"By doing this, they have put a stumbling block in the way of negotiations. All opposition parties must realise that if we don't come up with a workable plan this time, it would be as good as giving a bonus to Barisan Nasional (BN)."

BA, which consists of Keadilan, PAS and PRM, launched its 'Relap (Reformasi Lawan Penang)' campaign last Saturday, announcing its intention to wrest the state from the Gerakan-led state BN government.

DAP claimed that it was not consulted about the BA plan, although the party is negotiating with Keadilan over placement of candidates to prevent three-cornered flights that could split voter support for the opposition.

Contacted for comments, Keadilan vice-president Azmin Ali said the launch was a "symbolic event" that had spontaneously come out of a seminar o­n election strategies the same day.

During the seminar, he said, the findings of a study conducted by a local academician had revealed that the opposition had "very good chances" of taking the state from BN.

"The analysis was done based o­n the 1999 general election results. So we decided to go for Penang and we did a symbolic launch, which was officiated by Keadilan president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail," said Azmin, who is also Hulu Kelang (Selangor) state assembly representative.

"We also agreed that in all front line states - Penang, Perak and Selangor - we will contest 60 percent of the seats."

However, Azmin said, the strategy was still subject to discussion with DAP, which had pulled out of BA in September 2001 due to differences with PAS over the Islamic state issue.

He described recent negotiations with DAP and other BA component parties as "very positive and encouraging".

"We expressed our concerns to DAP and PAS that all seats - old and new - must be open for discussion and they were very encouraging," said Azmin.

"In the open session, we also raised our concerns to the two parties that the principle of contesting any seat should be based o­n the factor of win-ability."

New seats

However, Liu said Azmin had not given an accurate picture of the negotiations, which were based o­n the 1999 general election results.

He said o­nly new seats or those affected by the recent redelineation exercise were up for negotiation, while seats won by DAP or Keadilan would be defended by the respective parties.

Liu called o­n all parties to consolidate efforts in the coming election, as it presents a "golden opportunity" for the opposition to take advantage of intra-party squabbles within BN.

"If we want to win the elections, we should be stronger than the other side...or the other side must make mistakes," he quipped. "The best thing would be not to quarrel with o­ne another but to concentrate o­n how to win this time around."

Gerakan not convinced

Meanwhile, Gerakan dismissed BA's election strategy as a "political game". Vice-president Dr S Vijayaratnam said BA can hope to take over the BN in Penang "but they would not be very successful".

"The BA cannot get its act together, more so since DAP left it. How can it (BA) be a credible force?" he asked. "Penang is an urban area (where) DAP has more influence than other opposition parties."

Vijayaratnam also questioned why BA merely proposes to contest 60 percent of the seats if it wants to win in Penang.

"Why not 100 percent? This itself is a weak strategy. Even if they win half (of the seats), they cannot form a government," he said.

Vijayaratnam said BN must continue to work hard to ensure it wins all 40 state and 25 parliamentary seats. He added that, despite constant criticism of the state government, Penang Gerakan head and chief minister Dr Koh Tsu Koon is still a popular figure.