Keadilan wants the DAP to write officially to their party president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail if they (DAP) are keen to return to the negotiation table again.

Keadilan vice president Mohd Azmin Ali told malaysiakini today that the Keadilan supreme council, at its meeting last night, decided that the party will only resume seat talks with the DAP after receiving an official letter from them stating their agreement to pick up from where they left off.

"We have to insist on getting an official letter from DAP. This is simply because they suspended the talks through a letter from their secretary general (Kerk Kim Hock) to our president," he said.

"Thus, we think it is only fair that they inform our president (Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail) through an official letter as well if they want to resume discussion."

DAP suspended the talks early this month following news reports of Keadilan leaders revealing details of negotiations between the two parties which allegedly put the former in a bad light.

Unkind words

Azmin hoped that DAP would agree to send in the official notification, adding that Keadilan was willing to forget the past so that the matter could be settled amicably as soon as possible.

"If they are truly sincere and serious about wanting to continue negotiations, I think writing a letter will not be a problem for them," he said.

Azmin conceded that Keadilan was still "hurt" by the unkind remarks against Wan Azizah.

"Please don't hurl unkind words at our leader. That was one reason why we reacted quite strongly on the issue. Show some respect to us and our president."

He was referring to Kerk's remark describing the Keadilan president as lacking the will to address their concerns over the manner Keadilan leaders have chosen to conduct the negotiation.

On the seat talks with their Barisan Alternatif (BA) partner PAS, Azmin said although there were minor hitches, the process is "almost settled".

"PAS state leaders have given us unreserved cooperation and understanding in seat negotiations. In the event that we are unable to settle our differences over a few disputed seats, we will refer them to the BA presidents' council to make the final decision," he said.

He said that he will be preparing a report on the Keadilan -PAS seat negotiations to the council soon.

The general election is not legally due until November next year but opposition leaders believe it could be called much sooner .