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Keadilan's annual general meeting next week will not have the proposed merger with Parti Rakyat Malaysia on its agenda, said supreme council member Mohamed Azmin Ali.

Azmin confirmed today that the merger issue will only be discussed at a special extraordinary general meeting after the AGM.

"The AGM next week will focus on other issues such as the party election and the debate of the president's speech," he told malaysiakini .

However, he added that a supreme council meeting this Thursday will discuss further the AGM's agenda.

Azmin refuted that the merger would be postponed, stressing that the decision had been officially approved in the EGM held on June 24.

Keadilan delegates voted with an almost two-third majority to agree to the party's merger with coalition partner PRM four months ago, though they narrowly failed to reach the two-thirds required "to accept and agree to constitutional changes that will arise from the merger".

However, Azmin said the party will not stop delegates from raising the merger issue if they so wish in the upcoming AGM.

He added that the merger should no longer be an issue as the delegates have given the supreme council the mandate to proceed with it and implement all necessary steps.

Supreme council's responsibility

On talk that the opinions of council members are mixed on the merger with PRM, Azmin said: "The supreme council has a responsibility to expedite the merger process and not to put extra obstacles to it. It's morally wrong (if they refuse to proceed with the merger)."

The state assembly representative for Hulu Kelang conceded that the leaders will have to reach the grassroots to convey the urgency of the merger.

"[The 'indecision'] can be resolved after the delegates are given the correct explanation from the leaders," he said.

There has been talk that a faction linked to the Malaysian Muslim Youth Movement, or Abim, had a hand in attempting to get delegates to vote against the merger.

This led to worries that the merger will not proceed should those opposed to it win the election.

Observers also believed that the merger was taken off the AGM's agenda for fear that the issue would dominate the hotly contested party election.

However, Azmin stressed that it is not fair to blame any quarters in the party for any perceived opposition to the merger.

"No matter who wins the party election, they will still have to proceed with the merger," he said.