Keadilan will embark on a nationwide tour beginning the end of this month to present the Keadilan-Parti Rakyat Malaysia merger-proposal to its state liaison committees, who will in turn pass it on to the grassroots.

A member of the Keadilan technical committee for the merger, Saari Sungib told malaysiakini today that talks with PRM is underway as planned and according to schedule. The merger process is expected to be completed by the year's end.

"By the end of May, we should have proposed the merger to the grassroots," said Saari.

Saari labelled the briefing of grassroots as the most important stage, if the merger is to happen, since "there are many moods among the Keadilan people".

"The general mood at the grassroots' level is that PRM should dissolve and join Keadilan, but they still want to call it a merger. This is what we need to clarify," said Saari.

Everybody involved must understand that a merger of two political parties means the coming together of two ideologies, he added.

Contradictory views

"It is wrong to say that one party is joining another," said Saari, whose remark is contradictory to that of Keadilan vice-president Dr Chandra Muzaffar, who implied the merger was just that in malaysiakini 's report last Friday ([#1] Hurdles set aside in PRM-Keadilan merger [/#], April 6).

Chandra, who is also the head of the Keadilan technical committee on the merger, had said, "We have to explain to the people how a two-year-old party is bringing in another party. People want information and clarification, as the people involved are from diverse backgrounds".

Meanwhile head of the PRM technical committee for the merger, Dr Sanusi Osman, who is also the vice-president for the party when contacted said there are many interpretations within both parties as to what actually constitutes a merger.

"What we do at the technical committee merger talks, is that we try to agree on an ideology based on the ideologies of both parties and decide on a new vision for the new party," said Sanusi, adding that grassroots will be briefed on what the merger is exactly about.

He said the grassroots are unclear on a number of issues, but these cannot be clarified as yet since the two parties have not reached a compromise on these matters.

On the problems of the youth wing, the new logo and the status of the leaders of the two parties with the merger, both Sanusi and Saari described them to be mere technical glitches that are being ironed out.

Last week, youth wing members of Keadilan and PRM revealed that one of the key issues yet to be decided is whether or not female youth members will be grouped into one when the parties merge.

In Keadilan, all female members fall under its women's wing whereas in PRM there is no gender grouping.