Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has been urged to put aside the Umno initiated "Malay unity" talks and accept the opposition coalition's invitation to engage in national unity talks instead, an opposition leader said today.

DAP chairman Lim Kit Siang said that Mahathir should accept Barisan Alternatif's suggestion to underscore the fact that he is Prime Minister for all Malaysians and not just for one community.

"He (Mahathir) should set an example to all Malaysians in putting national interest above communal or sectional interest," said Lim in a media statement.

"He must also demonstrate that he is still committed to Vision 2020 and the Bangsa Malaysia concept," he added.

Lim said that it is sad that there are political leaders who are desperately trying to re-communalise Malaysians and Malaysian politics.

Last night, BA leaders met in Petaling Jaya and decided to initiate an all-party national round-table conference to explore solutions to the "crisis that besets the nation".

The conference, known as "State of the Nation" talks, is to include all the component parties of both the BA and ruling coalition Barisan Nasional.

"The nation is in the midst of a crisis. It is a crisis related to values and ethics, democracy and human rights, ethnic relations and the management of the economy," said a joint media statement by BA leaders.

"The cruel, inhuman and unjust persecution of former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, following his dismissal from the government and Umno, precipitated the crisis," the statement added.

Anwar is currently serving prison term in Sungai Buloh for a total of 15 years for corruption and sodomy.

BA leaders said that even before the Anwar episode, the unjust imprisonment of DAP Lim Guan Eng for sedition and false publication of news two years ago exposed fundamental weaknesses in the country's legal and judicial system.

Good governance compromised

The "selective" prosecution of dissidents and severe restrictions upon the opposition media eroded whatever little faith the people had in the institutions of governance, BA leaders added.

"The principles of good governance have been further compromised through blatantly vindictive moves such as the denial of petroleum royalty to the people of Terengganu.

"Because of the ruling elite's overwhelming dominance, the people are helpless in the face of such abuses of power," the statement added.

BA leaders who attended the meeting last night included PAS president Fadzil Noor and deputy president Mustafa Ali, Keadilan president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and deputy president Dr Chandra Muzaffar, DAP chairman Lim Kit Siang and secretary-general Kerk Kim Hock, PRM president Dr Syed Husin Ali and secretary-general Dr Sanusi Osman.

The leaders agreed that in the last six months, there have been constant attempts by the ruling elite to exploit communal fears and coerce community leaders to submit to BN's authoritarian might. They cited the recent Suqiu (Malaysian Chinese Organisations' Election Appeals Committee) incident as a case in point.

"It is mainly because of this crisis that a significant segment of Umno and BN supporters have now shifted their political allegiance to BA," said Syed Husin when contacted by malaysiakini today.

"It is wrong to interpret this shift as a split among the Malays. Since this political shift is related to a whole lot of fundamental challenges, it cannot be solved by holding talks on Malay unity alone," he added.

He reiterated that the outstanding issue facing the people today is not Malay unity but the integrity of the national leadership and the sincerity of its commitment to justice and democracy.