Parti Keadilan Rakyat (Keadilan) secretary-general Abdul Rahman Othman has confirmed he has stepped down from the post, but denied it had anything to do with his differences with deputy president Dr Syed Husin Ali.

While saying that he has explained his reasons to party president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, he did not provide these in his statement released this morning.

"I remain a member and deputy president of Parti Keadilan Nasional (which together with Parti Rakyat Malaysia was informally merged last August to form Keadilan)," Abdul Rahman said.

"I, however, have relinquished my position as secretary-general of the transitional supreme council formed to facilitate the completion of the merger."

Contacted this afternoon, Wan Azizah said a political bureau meeting would be held within "the next few days to discuss the matter".

Crucial period ahead

On Saturday, The Malay Mail reported that Abdul Rahman had quit Keadilan because of differences with Syed Husin (photo) over the Black 14 demonstration on April 17.

Abdul Rahman today refuted this but said: "I feel disgusted with the front-page scoop in Suara PRM under the heading 'Perhimpunan anti SPR digagalkan oleh jawatankuasa sendiri', (but this is not) the reason for my resignation."

He said that he would continue to support the merger process, with the next few months being especially crucial to this process.

"It is important that the party executes the merger...as outlined in the memorandum of understanding signed on July 25, 2002," he said.

He stressed that "any attempt to thwart the mechanism will be a breach of the trust given by the delegates...It is this trust that I want to uphold."

The merger of the two parties is pending approval by the Registrar of Societies.