The Registrar of Societies (ROS) is waiting for the approval from "other government agencies" before giving the green light for the Keadilan-PRM merger , said Keadilan deputy president Abdul Rahman Othman today.

This was revealed in a meeting between ROS officials and the political parties representatives, comprising Abdul Rahman, Keadilan secretary-general Mustapha Kamil Ayub and PRM deputy president Dr Sanusi Osman last Monday.

Abdul Rahman said the officials informed them that the approval for their application to form Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) was at its final stages but could not be cleared due to some external circumstances.

"They indicated to us that as far as ROS is concerned, the application is cleared...but they still have to wait for comments from other 'government agencies'," said the Keadilan leader, who declined to elaborate.

Launch unaffected

Although disappointed with the excuse, Abdul Rahman - who is also PKR's transitional secretary- general - said he will not resort to other avenues to speed up the approval as he is confident that the application will eventually come through.

He added the absence of an approval will not affect PKR's launch scheduled to take place at the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.

"We will stick to the normal procedure. I have spoken to them again after the Monday meeting and have requested that they speed up the approval to avoid causing any embarrassment to anyone in the future," he said.

An official with the ROS confirmed that the registrar has yet to give his approval for the merger.

"I can't say when they can expect the approval as I am not the one who approves the application," said the officer when contacted this afternoon.

The Keadilan-PRM merger process began two years ago. Since then leaders of the two parties have held meetings which has led to the formation of a transitional 62-member supreme council.

The transitional leadership - made up of current leaders from the two parties, the bulk of whom are from Keadilan - was finalised in February. The line-up at the state level is expected to be finalised over the next two months.