DAP's withdrawal from the Barisan Alternatif was not timed to gain sympathy votes in the looming Sarawak state elections, said party secretary-general Kerk Kim Hock today.

He said DAP decided to withdraw from the BA because the party failed to resolve its differences with PAS over the Islamic state issue.

DAP pulled out of the opposition coalition on Sept 22 after it had earlier in the day met with PAS for the third time in the past month to resolve the controversy.

Kerk said he had tried to arrange for a meeting with PAS at an earlier date but was informed by the party that the earliest date available was Sept 22.

"This is why the final meeting was held on that date, in the midst of the campaigning period of the Sarawak elections," added Kerk in a statement.

"I believe that no amount of clarification can convince our political enemies who are only too ready to speculate on our timing to pull out, [ascribing it to an attempt on our part to] score political points."

In the Sept 27 elections, DAP is contesting in 13 seats, Keadilan 25 and PAS three.

Many politicians, including PRM secretary-general Dr Sanusi Osman, questioned the timing of DAP's decision on the pullout with the state elections just around the corner.

"We are now giving bullets to the BN," Sanusi had said.

Founding principle

Kerk also dismissed the claim by Kelantan Mentri Besar and PAS religious leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat yesterday that DAP left BA because it could not explain the concept of Islamic state to its mostly non-Muslim members.

"It has been our founding party principle that Malaysia shall be a secular democratic country. This is a principle that the DAP cannot and will not compromise on."

He said that DAP was left with no choice but to withdraw from the BA when PAS failed to accept DAP's proposed formula, especially with regard to the point that the establishment of an Islamic state was not a feasible, practical and acceptable proposition.

The Islamic state controversy has long troubled the relationship between DAP and PAS, but more so in recent months when PAS reiterated that it would set up an Islamic state should it come to power. DAP had objected strongly to that, while the other two BA members, Keadilan and PRM, left it to the disputing parties to resolve their squabbles.

As part of a series of on-going meetings with PAS, DAP last Saturday presented a five-point formula to resolve the issue but three points were rejected by the Islamic party, which at the moment rules the states of Kelantan and Terengganu.

This resulted in DAP holding an emergency central committee meeting the same day, in which out of the 18 members present, 13 voted to pull out of BA, two against while three abstained.