Parti Keadilan Rakyat (Keadilan) and its former ally DAP seem to be headed for another brick wall as far as seat negotiations for the upcoming general election are concerned.

In a bid to revive talks - which have been frozen for four months - Keadilan vice-president Tian Chua said both parties should set aside their differences and start the ball rolling again.

"We should put aside our differences, let the voters see the opposition's sincerity in order for us to be given a mandate in the next general election," he said in a statement yesterday.

He also agreed with DAP secretary-general Kerk Kim Hock that talks should resume to ensure straight-fights with the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition.

'Explanation' needed

However, DAP national publicity chief and negotiation head Ronnie Liu said Keadilan must come up with certain 'explanation' before anything else can transpire.

Asked to elaborate, he said Keadilan must first respond to the charge that the party had leaked details to the press of their previous negotiations.

"(Tian Chua's) statement is good. In fact, DAP was the party which initiated the negotiations but we have to suspend it due to details being leaked and there were negative media statements against my party.

"It is a reasonable request to ask for a response from Keadilan because we have been offended. But to date, we have yet to receive anything from them," he added.

When pointed out that Keadilan president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail clarified in August that none of her party leaders were responsible for the leak, Liu reiterated his call for an explanation but declined to say how it should be done.

"It is up to their wisdom on how they should reply. This is their freedom, we shouldn't teach them," he said.

DAP suspended the talks on Aug 5 in a letter to Wan Azizah following what it claimed were "persistent leaks" of negotiation details to the media.

A war of words ensued and an irate Keadilan vice-president Azmin Ali said DAP must write a letter if it wanted to resume talks.

He also added that his party decided to proceed with its election machinery as it had ' bigger plans ' for the upcoming polls.

Contacted later, Tian Chua said there should be no further conditions for the resumption of negotiations.

"To fight on our own is the last resort. For the sake of the people and the opposition's unity, we need to talk and settle the seat allocation.

"I believed there are many DAP leaders who are willing to resume the talks," he added.

Asked if the party would take any concrete action to get negotiations underway, the Keadilan leader said they will wait for DAP to respond first.

Islamic state

Meanwhile, a Keadilan leader who declined to be named said his party's ties with PAS in the Barisan Alternatif could jeopardise the prospects of holding any talks.

DAP - which left BA in Sept 2001 - has been a vocal critic of PAS' aim to set up an Islamic state should it come into power.

However, Liu denied this. "There is no link. Our 'No to 929 campaign' is an ongoing campaign. Even with the PAS' Islamic state document, we opposed it as a matter of principal," he said.

The 'No to 929' campaign was launched in protest of former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad's declaration that Malaysia was an Islamic state.

When contacted, Kerk declined to comment.

While recent rumours indicated that snap polls could be called this month, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has yesterday quashed such speculation.