A former DAP member of parliament has suggested that the DAP give way to leaders of the yet-to-be-registered Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) to contest in their desired seats to avoid a three-way fight in the coming general election.

Dr Kua Kia Soong, MP for Petaling Jaya in 1990-95, described PSM's request for two parliamentary - Sungai Siput (Perak) and Subang (Selangor) - and two state seats - Jalong (Perak) and Bukit Lanjan (Selangor) - as "reasonable".

"PSM should be given a chance to field its candidates as they have been consistently working in the areas they are eyeing," he said referring to the party's work in supporting the rights of squatters and plantation workers.

Kua, who is a director of human rights group Suaram, depicted the PSM candidates as "giants in an otherwise lackluster political landscape".

"I am not a PSM member but I have been observing their method and attitude through the years," Kua said in a statement to malaysiakini today, which did not mention DAP by name.

"They (PSM leaders) should be a model for other opposition parties who are serious about replacing the BN (Barisan Nasional) with a people-first government," added Kua, who is also a vocal Chinese education activist and currently the principal of New Era College.

Tussle for seats

Kua's comments came in the wake of the current tussle between PSM and DAP over the Sungai Siput parliamentary seat, which is held by MIC president and Works Minister S Samy Vellu.

In 1999 general election, PSM fielded party vice-president Dr D Jeyakumar in Sungai Siput under the DAP banner.

In the contest, Jeyakumar slashed the once unassailable MIC leader's majority to 5,259 out of the 47,520 votes cast.

Observers believe that Jeyakumar is within striking distance to knock out the veteran politician in the coming polls.

DAP had recently made the offer that should Jeyakumar want to contest under its banner again, he should join the opposition party as a member. This was rejected by Jeyakumar.

Jeyakumar, who is a medical doctor, had also declined a revised offer from DAP - to contest in the parliament seat but make way for DAP in Jalong, one of the two state seats under the Sungai Siput constituency.

Meanwhile, another opposition party Keadilan has offered Selangor's Subang to PSM where party president Dr Mohd Nasir Hashim is expected to contest as a candidate.

However, PSM is facing difficulties in its negotiation with DAP for the Selangor's state seat of Bukit Lanjan, one of the three states seats which falls in the Subang constituency.

According to Kua, to do well in the parliamentary constituency, a candidate needs a reliable running mate in the corresponding state constituency to back him or her.

"That is the reason why PSM's request for the corresponding state seats in the parliamentary seats that Dr Nasir and Dr Kumar are standing is strategically good for the opposition as a whole," he said.

"...Ideally, candidates within any particular parliamentary constituency should be from the same party. This also ensures that coordination is better when they service the constituency after the elections."

Keadilan fielded its Wanita deputy chief Irene Fernandez in Subang in the last elections, but Irene is likely to contest in Kedah this time around.

DAP leaders have been tight-lipped on the issue of seat allocation as the party is in intense negotiation with Keadilan for a straight fight in frontline states such as Penang, Perak and Selangor.

Rare breed

Kua also commended the PSM leaders for being "a rare breed of politicians who do not emit any odour of opportunism".

"I had the honour of working with both Dr Nasir and Dr Jeyakumar and their state-level candidates on issues involving people's struggles," he said.

"They put the people's interest before careerism. I was long enough in opposition politics to perceive this difference," he added.

"Tiresome careerist politicians should know when to get off and give PSM a break".

Kua, who was a member of the DAP's political education bureau, resigned from DAP in 1995 and became a caustic critic of party leader Lim Kit Siang.

He has published several books on various topics, including the controversial "Inside the DAP" in 1996.

In the controversial book, Kua wrote about how Lim (photo), who was then the party's secretary-general, controlled a patronage system in the selection of DAP candidates which was the source of his authority in the party.

Kua claimed that any serious reform in the party must include the democratisation of the candidate selection process as it will automatically demystify the "indispensability" of the veteran party leader.