Keadilan and former Barisan Alternatif ally DAP have chosen to remain tightlipped over their negotiations o­n seat allocations for the next general election. They reached an agreement o­n this during their second meeting o­n Monday.

Negotiators for the two parties had held their first meeting o­n March 21 and were scheduled to hold their second earlier this month. Upon Keadilan's request, however, the meeting was postponed and held two days ago.

Decisions later

Contacted by malaysiakini today for details, the representatives for both sides refused to reveal what had been discussed. Each claimed he did not want to create a controversy while negotiations were in progress.

Keadilan vice-president Dr A Xavier Jayakumar is leading a team comprising supreme council member Khalid Jaafar and deputy Youth chief Low Chee Cheong.

The party leader said he had to stick to the agreement.

"Please bear with me, we have agreed not to talk to the press, not to confuse the issue and not to jeopardise the meeting. Therefore, to be fair, we will o­nly issue a joint statement," he said.

Asked what has prompted the gag, he replied: "DAP feels it is not ready to talk to the press... both of us have many things that need to come through."

Jayakumar would o­nly say that more "concrete decisions" would be disclosed after the next meeting, expected to be held within the next two weeks.

DAP is represented by national publicity chief Ronnie Li, central executive committee member Teresa Kok and Youth wing secretary Loke Siew Fook.

Liu too would not reveal details when asked, o­nly saying: "There is progress, it's going o­n...we don't want to destroy the whole negotiation. When there is suitable time for us to talk to the press, we will let you know."

He also said the joint statement was Keadilan's idea.

The statement said both sides were of the opinion that the two parties should consolidate their chances against Barisan Nasional.

'Difficult seats'

Keadilan, after the first round of talks, had claimed it has been given "difficult seats" by DAP.

Keadilan has been vexed by DAP's insistence o­n keeping its 'traditional seats' contested in previous elections, while DAP is upset with Keadilan's eagerness to contest 60 percent of seats in frontline states like Penang, Perak and Selangor.

Jayakumar had said then that if DAP o­nly wants to contest in "traditional and safe seats", then it should be prepared for three-cornered fights in the general election, due by November 2004.

DAP denied Jayakumar's statement, but the comments allegedly irked some party leaders who felt that Keadilan was telling o­nly o­ne side of the story. It is believed this led to the agreement o­n a gag being imposed.

While there is speculation that both sides may be at loggerheads over seat allocation, an informed source dismissed this, claiming the two teams have not even agreed o­n guidelines o­n how to proceed with the negotiation.

"The gag has nothing to do with what people saying. We can't come to a consensus (on the allocation of seats)...actually we are still discussing basic principles such as whether we should start with (negotiation over) parliamentary seats or state seats first," the source said.

"The first meeting was merely a dinner... we said 'hello' to each other. At the second meeting, we started with how the negotiations should proceed."

The source said there is some pressure o­n the negotiators to reach agreement, since constraints are posed by potential election dates.

DAP pulled out of BA in September 2001 after crossing swords with PAS over its ambition to set up an Islamic state.

However, it later indicated willingness to work with Keadilan despite the latter's affiliation with PAS is the opposition front, which also includes PRM.