PAS' arrogance and insensitivity towards the non-Muslims were the factors that drove DAP away from the Barisan Alternatif, said a local academic.

According to Prof P Ramasamy, a political scientist with Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, PAS must bear the responsibility for causing the split.

"PAS should be thoughtful and sensitive. It's arrogant of the party to push for an Islamic state," he said.

However, PAS spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat was quoted by Bernama today as saying that "this failure was not caused by the difficulty (faced by PAS) in explaining the (Islamic state) issue, but was due to DAP's inability to answer questions posed by its members. Therefore, (they felt) it was best to leave".

He denied that PAS on its part had also failed to explain its mission to non-Muslims, saying it was DAP's ignorance of Islam that caused the break-up.

Ramasamy also pointed out that the recent terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington DC may have contributed to the split as there seemed to be a conscious effort by the government to link a 'militant' group, the so-called Kumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia, with PAS.

Another factor was the mainstream media, he said.

"The mainstream media has always projected an agenda which is in the interest of the ruling party," he explained, adding that the opposition coalition is always portrayed as strange bedfellows who cannot get along.

Ramasamy said DAP's decided to leave the coalition did not come as a surprise as there was mounting pressure from its supporters for the party to pull out from the opposition coalition.

Sarawak elections

The party's 13th congress last month empowered the newly-elected 26-member central executive committee to resolve immediately its differences with PAS on the Islamic state issue.

Yesterday, the DAP committee met and resolved to quit the BA following an earlier meeting the same day with PAS which ended without accord on the five-point formula proposed by the DAP to resolve the issue.

BA sources told malaysiakini that the decision to pull out by DAP was largely influenced by the grassroots sentiments in Sarawak with the state elections looming on Thursday.

Despite the meetings that were being held between the two parties to resolve the impasse in the past few months, PAS leaders continued to make remarks which stoked DAP's ire, notably the threat to close down the Genting Highlands casino if the Islamic party comes to power in Pahang.

Last month PAS president Fadzil Noor said the Islamic party will abide by the BA Manifesto which was created before the 1999 general elections.

However, he said that PAS could not give the assurance that "a vote for BA is not a vote for Islamic state" as demanded by DAP.

"DAP is seeing things from the non-Muslim perspective; we can't issue such a statement because we are getting support from the Muslims," Fadzil said.

Future tactical pact

Asked about BA's chances in the next general elections, Ramasamy said that the opposition front is now in a weaker position to deny the BN its two-third majority.

He said that it would be difficult for the BA to form a inter-racial coalition which could match the BN without DAP.

"The BN would be happy with this," Ramasamy said, adding that without the DAP there would not be a combined strength and electoral pact among the opposition parties.

He, however, did not rule out the possibility that DAP would form a tactical pact with other opposition parties before the next general election.

PAS' Nik Aziz, who is also the Kelantan Mentri Besar, also hinted of that possibility in the Bernama report today.

He was quoted as giving thanks that when it comes to the crunch, DAP will co-operate with other opposition parties in their fight against the BN.

DAP together with PAS, Keadilan and PRM formed the BA prior to the 1999 general elections. However, despite gaining an extra parliamentary seat, DAP received a severe backlash in the election when two of its giants, Lim Kit Siang and Karpal Singh, were ousted from their respective constituencies.

Some traditional DAP supporters - the urban Chinese - believed the party's defeats were largely due to its association with PAS.