At least four Keadilan Youth leaders have resigned from their exco posts, but Youth chief Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor said this was not a sign of any worrying trend within the wing.

Contacted today, he said such developments are common in political parties, as when some leaders go abroad or others relinquish their posts to focus on their respective party branches.

Ezam said those who have tendered resignation letters include Adlan Benan Omar * , Mohd Zakir Yusoff * , Saiful Izham Ramli and Perak chief Hanafiah Man.

However, when contacted, Adlan clarified that he did not resign but had been replaced in January. The others named could not be contacted immediately for confirmation.

The Youth wing has yet to reflect the changes resulting from the merger of Keadilan and Parti Rakyat Malaysia in August as Parti Keadilan Rakyat (or Keadilan). The main party is being run by a transitional committee pending approval of the merger by the Registrar of Societies.

Mohd Ezam ( photo ) said those who have resigned from their posts will continue to be party members, with Hanafiah to retain his appointment as editor of the party organ Seruan Keadilan .

He said the resignations are not expected to affect the party much as the wing itself is undergoing a restructuring process following the merger.

"There will be an exco meeting on Saturday to discuss the resignations and to determine the new line-up for the merged Youth wing. This will be announced by the end of the month," Mohd Ezam said.

Women leaders

The youth wing, which will also comprise women members, will be renamed Angkatan Muda Malaysia in order to attract reformasi activists.

"The party's supreme council has just given the Youth wing the go-ahead to rename itself. We expect to formalise this in October," Mohd Ezam said.

Asked on the reaction to the inclusion of women, he said: "The response has been good and we have even identified several women professionals for leadership positions."

This runs contrary to allegations that the resignations in the Youth wing were sparked off by the issue of including women.

Party sources, however, described this as being no bad thing.

"This is a sign of maturity for the party because it reveals willingness to negotiate differences through open discussion and within the party structure," one source said.

Prior to the merger, the proposal to include women had met with stiff resistance from Keadilan leaders. However, the supreme council later decided to include women into the wing.

Revival of struggle

In another development, Mohd Ezam said the party plans to intensify its protest against the jailing of former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim, ( photo ) who has been convicted of corruption and sodomy.

The Youth wing is planning to grab the international media's attention during the Organisation of Islamic Conference summit in Kuala Lumpur next month and at a number of Asean meetings at about the same time.

"I will be meeting reformasi activists in the next few days to work together on a joint programme to mark Anwar's fifth year in custody," he said.

"We want to recreate awareness over Anwar's detention as well as of (Burmese pro-democracy leader) Aung San Suu Kyi's case. The timing is right to revive the objectives of our struggle."

* Correction: Keadilan Youth chief Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor later told malaysiakini that he had mistakenly named Adlan Benan Omar and Mohd Zakir Yusoff, who did not resign. Those who did resign were treasurer Rafizi Ramli and exco member Rizal Md Zain.