The top Barisan Alternatif (BA) coalition leaders are likely to discuss the merits of a recent working paper which has called the coalition to be registered as an official political party, said PRM president Dr Syed Husin Ali today.

"The top leadership is involved in a series of discussions on many things now, and this matter could be one of them," he said, while admitting that he has not seen the working paper.

He added that this matter must be discussed thoroughly to iron out all basic differences if the proposals were to be carried out by the coalition.

Syed Husin also clarified that the group which prepared the working paper was not officially assigned by the BA to do the project.

"However, we welcome such study and personally I think parties in BA must try to come to an agreement in using common symbol for the next elections," he said.

Meanwhile DAP national chairperson Lim Kit Siang, when contacted, said he would prefer to see the working paper first before commenting on it.

Allies needed

The working paper, prepared by a group comprising youth members of Keadilan and PAS, and academicians, sought to address the structural problems and future prospects of BA.

The paper was a compilation of findings from a peninsula-wide survey involving 725 respondents.

At present the BA, formed prior to the 1999 general elections, consists of Keadilan, PRM, PAS and DAP, and has a total of 42 out of 193 members of parliament.

Changes within the pact are also imminent with Keadilan and PRM planning a merger from which they will emerge as Parti Keadilan Rakyat Malaysia.

Last week, PAS president Fadzil Noor had said that the BA needed at least three more parties to form an official front, as the law requires that any coalition to be registered must have a minimum of seven political parties.