After four hours of heated debate and high emotions, the PRM National Congress today passed a resolution in support of the merger plan with KeADILan.

"In principle, we agreed with the idea of a merger, and the congress has given the mandate of power to the central committee to carry on the process of negotiation and discussion in order to achieve the merger," said PRM president Syed Husin Ali at a press conference this afternoon.

But he said there are still a number of issues to be resolved by both sides.

"The (PRM-KeADILan) liaison meeting is still working on, for example, the type of constitution and organisational setup that should be established," he added.

Syed Husin said that if the details are finally worked out with KeADILan, the party will have another special congress "to come to a final conclusion".

"I hope, and I believe, that KeADILan will arrive at the same conclusion," said Syed Husin.

He added that the merger process could take about six months to one year.

It is understood that while the majority supported the merger plan, some PRM members expressed uneasiness in giving up political ideals which were built over four decades to a two-year-old party.

In 1957, the party together with the Labour Party formed the Socialist Front, and in the 1959 elections the front won eight parliamentary seats.

Though they have succeeded to gain more votes in last November's elections, PRM has not be very successful in picking up seats since the municipal elections in Penang in the mid-1960s.