Keadilan and its former ally DAP have an immediate task at hand in Perak - to iron out the dispute over two parliamentary and nine state seats in the state which both parties want to contest.

Although DAP secretary-general Kerk Kim Hock had announced that his party will resume seat allocation talks with Keadilan, negotiations over the overlapping seats in Perak are deemed crucial as both parties had already named their respective candidates for the seats following the six-month suspension on the talks.

Prior to the suspension, the two parties were already at loggerheads over seats in the opposition front-line states of Penang, Perak and Selangor.

The overlapping parliamentary seats in Perak are Ipoh Timur and Batu Gajah, whereas the nine state seats are Jalong, Pasir Pinji, Bercham, Menglembu, Teja, Jelapang, Kepayang, Kuala Sepatang and Sungai Manik.

Moreover, two of the top opposition leaders in the state - Perak DAP chief Ngeh Koo Ham and Perak Keadilan deputy chief Dr Lee Boon Chye ( right ) - are both adamant to contest in Ipoh Timur and vowed they would not give way.

Keadilan has also named its Batu Gajah division chief Tai Sing Ng to contest in Batu Gajah, which is currently held by DAP's youngest member of Parliament Fong Po Kuan.

Another DAP seat, Menglembu, is also eyed by Keadilan with the party preparing to field supreme council member Mak Xiang or its Perak vice-president Hew Yoon Tat. DAP's Keong Meng Sing is the Menglembu incumbent.

Following last year's redelineation exercise, Perak now has 24 parliamentary seats and 59 state seats.

Eyeing new Lumut seat

During the 1999 general election, DAP won one parliamentary and four state seats, out of nine parliamentary and 17 state seats it contested.

According to Ngeh ( photo ) yesterday, DAP has decided to contest in Ipoh Barat, Ipoh Timur, Kampar, Gopeng, Batu Gajah, Taiping, Beruas, Teluk Intan, Sungai Siput and the new seat of Lumut in the coming polls.

(Parti Sosialis Malaysia earlier has named its pro-tem vice-president Dr D Jeyakumar to contest in Sungai Siput.)

On top of the previous 17 state seats of Pokok Assam, Aulong, Jalong, Taman Canning, Tebing Tinggi, Pasir Pinji, Bercham, Buntong, Menglembu, Lahat, Pantai Remis, Teja, Kuala Dipang, Malim Nawar, Sitiawan, Pasir Bedamar, Sungkai, the Chinese-based party will also contest in Jelapang, Kepayang, Simpang Pulai, Kuala Kurau, Kuala Sepatang, Pangkor, Ayer Kuning and Sungai Manik this time around.

Ngeh said these seats are mostly Chinese-majority areas and DAP stands a better chance compared with Keadilan, claiming that the latter does not has a clear stand on PAS's Islamic state and that it practises different sets of policies for bumiputeras and non-bumiputeras.

On Ipoh Timur, the DAP leader said he has been "designated" by the party to serve the people in the area over the past four years and will not give up the area easily. Ngeh lost to a MCA candidate in the 1999 polls.

As for Batu Gajah, he said the party will definitely defend the seat but could not confirm whether incumbent Fong Po Kuan will be fielded.

'Better performance'

Commenting on the same issue, Keadilan's Lee said the party will only give way to DAP in Batu Gajah if the incumbent MP Fong is fielded.

On his decision to contest in Ipoh Timur, Lee said the seat should not be seen as a DAP traditional seat merely because it was contested by DAP twice in the past.

"If he had failed two times, then he should know the reasons why I am confident my party can perform better there," the Keadilan leader said when contacted.

Apart from Ipoh Timur and Batu Gajah, Keadilan also aims to contest in Gerik. The 16 state seats it is eyeing are Bercham, Jelapang, Pasir Pinji, Teja, Jalong, Kuala Sepatang, Tronoh, Menglembu, Kepayang, Pengkalan Hulu, Kota Tampin, Kubu Gajah, Selinsing, Sungai Rapat, Majol and Sungai Manik.

Lee has announced the names of 13 Chinese candidates for the state during the Perak Keadilan Chinese New Year's open house in Ipoh early this week.

The remaining seats will be contested by Malay or Indian leaders which have yet to be named but Lee said that Perak Keadilan chief Osman Abdul Rahman has been confirmed for Sungai Manik and state secretary Zulkifli Ibrahim for Majol.

Keadilan contested six parliamentary and 15 state seats in 1999 but only won the Bota state seat.