DAP secretary-general Kerk Kim Hock said today that seat negotiations with Keadilan would resume only if Keadilan leaders agree to stop leaking one-sided information to the press and tarnishing DAP's image in the process.

Kerk said he would await a response from Keadilan president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, to whom he has written, before deciding if negotiations would continue.

"The two problems are the persistent leaking out of (selective) talk details and the persistent negative comments made against the DAP. The information leaked does not show the complete picture.

If I were to reveal details of the negotiations, I am sure Keadilan would also insist on suspending the talks," he told reporters after opening the Selangor DAP state ordinary convention in Petaling Jaya.

Wait for official word

DAP suspended their four-month-old negotiations with Keadilan on Tuesday after Penang Keadilan leaders were quoted in news reports as accusing DAP of practising 'racial politics' by insisting on retaining seats in Chinese-majority areas in Penang.

Keadilan leaders have claimed several times publicly that it was more popular in traditional DAP seats and therefore should be allowed to contest in some Chinese-majority seats.

Meanwhile, Kerk said although Keadilan chief negotiator Dr Xavier Jayakumar had urged the DAP to return to the talks, he (Kerk) would await the official response from Wan Azizah on the concerns he listed down in his letter.

"The ball is now in their court. We want to negotiate but it has to be done with sincerity. We have raised serious concerns but the question now is whether they can be resolved."

The DAP secretary-general declined to comment on Keadilan's likely move, saying that he did not want to "speculate".

"I don't want to complicate matters further," he said, adding that DAP would still be prepared to stand alone if no agreement can be reached.

Kerk said that the party did not experience such problems with negotiation partners prior to 1999.

"We were a coalition partner in 1999 and even then we had difficulties. Now that we are doing this as a separate party, we had expected the negotiations to be even more difficult.

"(But it does not help the process) when Keadilan makes persistent attempts to use public pressure to influence the negotiations. We don't think this is right," he said.

Wan Azizah was unavailable for comment.

Clarify reports

Earlier, Kerk had clarified to delegates at the Selangor DAP convention that the party has no intention of contesting in PAS areas, as was recently reported in several newspapers.

Kerk said the allegations first surfaced in an Utusan Malaysia report several weeks back while another report in Nanyang Siang Pau yesterday had made similar claims.

"I have never said that DAP would contest in PAS areas. The DAP is committed to one-to-one fights with the Barisan Nasional. This is the reason why I wrote to Wan Azizah in the first place last year."

He indicated that it would be unlikely for DAP to consider competing in PAS areas. "There are no talks with PAS. There is no need for that," he said.