It is not time yet for the DAP to talk about pulling out from the Barisan Alternatif coalition due to disagreements with coalition partner PAS on the Islamic state issue, according to a party leader today.

"It's premature to talk about pulling out from BA at the moment as the negotiation process is still going on," DAP vice-chairman Lim Guan Eng told malaysiakini today.

Yesterday, the Sun daily reported a 'DAP's party source' as saying that it was 'inevitable' that DAP would pull out from the BA as negotiations on the Islamic state issue between PAS and DAP thus far were 'not encouraging'.

Guan Eng said today that while the DAP respected PAS' political struggle, the two parties needed to find a clear and common platform which was acceptable to both parties.

"We want to make it very clear that in the BA structure, there should be no push for an Islamic state," he said.

Malaysiakini reported yesterday that PAS had agreed to consider including the statement 'A vote for Barisan Alternatif (BA) is not a vote for an Islamic state' in the BA manifesto as a compromise over the issue but this was rejected by DAP.

Guan Eng said it would be 'favourable' if PAS did agree to include the statement in the BA manifesto.

"The DAP are not imposing its views on PAS. We respect each others' political struggle," Lim said, reiterating that there should be a common understanding that the BA is not vouching for an Islamic state.

He warned that unless the distrust for DAP that arose from the Islamic state issue is cleared, it will be hard for DAP to convince its traditional voters, especially the middle-class urbanites to support for the party in the future.

PAS insensitivity

Concurring with Lim on the deteriorating support for DAP due to its alliance with PAS was DAP international affairs bureau secretary Teresa Kok Suh Sim.

"We believe that in the last general elections, it was the Islamic state issue had caused DAP, including (Lim) Kit Siang and Karpal (Singh) to lose," she said.

Kok lamented the insensitivity on the part of PAS leaders in issuing statements which implied BA would close down the country's only casino in Genting Highlands, Pahang if it comes to power.

However, Kok said she was unsure if the DAP would pull out from BA as the party's leaders would be meeting their PAS counterparts next week for another meeting to thrash out existing differences.

Kok also said she believed that both parties could still 'work out an alternative framework of cooperation if DAP decides to pull out from BA'.

"Our common enemy is still Umno," she stressed.