PRM and Keadilan leaders have bridged their ideological divide and have drafted a set of 17-point goals for their proposed merger, PRM secretary-general Dr Sanusi Osman said today.

"The leaders of both parties have ironed out their differences on fundamental issues such as the logo, name and long-term goals of the party, Sanusi told malaysiakini .

However, Sanusi who is also a member of the technical committee for the merger, declined to elaborate on the details of the 'common goals' saying they would be presented to the parties' respective annual general assemblies first.

Keadilan's annual general assembly will be held this Sunday while PRM's is in mid-July.

On the future party structure, Sanusi said it remains unresolved but added that this "would not be a major obstacle to the merger".

Unlike Keadilan, 46-year-old PRM does not have a Women's wing. The party's Youth wing comprises members of both sexes.

'Godless ideology'

The merger proposal, which came about early last year, has seen a split in reaction among members of both parties Some say the move would enhance the struggle of establishing a just Malaysia whereas others are more skeptical.

Among the issues raised by an opposing faction in Keadlian is PRM's past association with socialism - a supposedly 'godless' ideology, and whether the party should dissolve and be allowed to join the relatively new Keadilan en bloc .

Keadilan was formed in 1998 following the sacking of Anwar Ibrahim as deputy prime minister and the his wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail is the current party president.

PRM accepted the merger proposal in principle at its national congress in June last year and in February this year Keadilan's supreme council gave the green light for the merger.

Yesterday, malaysiakini reported that there is a strong lobby against the merger from groups in Keadilan who feel that their position as leaders would be threatened should the proposal materialise.

Sanusi admitted there are certain quarters within both parties who still feel 'uneasy' over the merger despite road shows and talks organised to help them understand the purpose for doing so.

"Negative sentiments are there. There will surely be people who question the merger proposal at the upcoming general assemblies," he said.

He added that although both parties can try their best to explain the proposal to its delegates, there is no certainty that the delegates would vote for it.

"All we can do is to explain to our members, the rest is really up to the delegates," said Sanusi.

Party sentiments

Meanwhile, another technical committee member Latheefa Koya said there are some PRM members opposing the merger for various reasons.

"Even though some may agree with the concept, they are still reserved because they want to know how exactly the merger is going to be done," said Latheefa, who is PRM Youth secretary-general.

The biggest setback, she said, are the sentiments attached to the party as some feel PRM's history and heritage would sink into oblivion after the merger as PRM has always been a ideologically-based party with a small number of members who share similar ideals.

PRM and Keadilan are part of the Barisan Alternatif alliance, which also houses PAS and DAP. The pact came about just before the 1999 general elections and won a total of 42 out of the 193 parliament seats.