Parti Keadilan Rakyat (Keadilan) vice-president Dr Xavier Jayakumar said today that the party will push forward with its aim of establishing a strong presence in Selangor, despite DAP objections to the idea.

A major bone of contention in the unresolved seat negotiations between Keadilan and DAP now centres on their battle for dominance in the state, which both parties are eyeing.

"As far as we are concerned, we want to lead Selangor. We have discussed this with PAS and they seemed agreeable. The only thing left now is for us to finalise the seats distribution (with PAS)," Xavier said when contacted today.

He said an agreement was likely to be reached with PAS in a month's time over several constituencies for which decisions are outstanding.

However, he acknowledged that seat negotiations with DAP have been at a standstill since the latter called for a suspension of talks early last month.

A quarrel broke out between the two parties after Keadilan leaders were reported in the press as having made disparaging remarks about DAP's refusal to give up non-Malay constituencies - including several in Selangor.

Insistent DAP insistent

Commenting on Keadilan's position, DAP Selangor deputy chairperson Tee Boon Hock said his party would insist on contesting in 18 state and six parliamentary constituencies in the upcoming general election.

"We are not asking for a lot - only one-third of the Selangor seats. We want to contest the same seats as in 1999 with the addition of two new areas which were created by the redelineation exercise," he said.

Tee said DAP's dispute with Keadilan over the Selangor seats involved three state seats and one parliamentary constituency.

"Keadilan has insisted on competing in Chinese-majority areas. How can we give way when we are a mainly non-Malay based party? If Keadilan wants to take even these seats, we might be better off with a free for all," he said.

According to him, Keadilan may be pushing into traditional DAP areas because it has not been entirely successful in its negotiations with PAS.

"PAS has refused to give up some seats. So they choose instead to squeeze into our areas," he said.

Tee said although DAP had fared poorly in the last general election, its fortunes are expected to improve because of its split from Barisan Alternatif.

"We lost in most of the constituencies last time because of the Islamic state issue. Based on our ground work, DAP has a much better chance this time round," he added.

In 1999, DAP contested in 16 state and six parliamentary seats, but only managed to win a single state seat in Bandar Klang.

Keadilan ready to talk

Asked to comment on the stalled seat negotiations, both Keadilan and DAP leaders seemed adamant that the other party should make the first move to patch matters up.

DAP Youth secretary Loke Siew Fook said his party leadership is expected to maintain demands for Keadilan leaders to agree on confidential discussions and to stop deriding DAP publicly.

"There has been no meeting since the suspension. We are sticking to our position that the other side must first fulfill our requests," said Loke, who is a member of DAP's negotiating team.

Xavier, however, said the negotiations could only resume if DAP writes a letter asking for revocation of the suspension of talks.

"(DAP secretary-general Kerk Kim Hock) called our president (Wan Azizah Wan Ismail) two or three weeks ago asking for the talks to resume, but our position is still the same: DAP has to write us a letter," he said.

"We are not playing hardball. We all knew that the talks would be tough but they should treat us with respect. We are ready to talk again."

Asked if negotiations would be terminated if DAP refuses to write the letter, he said, "I don't think so."

"The final analysis is that both parties have to realise that there will be big problems ahead if this matter is not resolved. Someone has to make the first move," he said.

Xavier said Keadilan leaders are planning to hold another meeting with Wan Azizah to discuss the issue when she returns from a trip abroad this weekend.

"She will be back on Sunday. We may sit down and talk with her to decide how to handle this matter."

The two parties have been under intense pressure to resolve their differences in view of speculation that the general election may be called by the end of the year.

Snap polls

Last week, PAS vice-president Mustafa Ali (photo) was quoted by Bernama as saying that nationwide polls could be held as early as this month.

Although the elections are due only by November next year, political pundits have not ruled out an early date for Barisan Nasional to take advantage of outgoing Prime Minister Dr Mahathir's Mohamad's influence.

There is also general optimism over the leadership transition to Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

With the departure of DAP from the Barisan Alternatif, the state is expected to be the main bone of contention between the two parties who are supposed to divide seats between themselves so as to avoid splitting the opposition vote.