To leave or not to leave the opposition front: this had been DAP's conundrum for months.

In the end, the decision turned out to be relatively irrelevant, for the party was already weakened either way, caught between the devil and the deep blue sea, admitted a DAP leader today.

"Whether we are in or out of the BA, we have already been weakened. Whatever the outcome, it is a no-win situation. So the best thing was for us to step out of the coalition," said DAP international secretary Teresa Kok.

"We have been attacked because of our past co-operation with PAS due to its Islamic state policy, and our Malay voters might not understand that our policy against an Islamic state is not anti-Islam," she added.

DAP's shocking pullout from the three-year-old Barisan Alternatif which included PRM, Keadilan, and PAS last Saturday was, according to sources, a move to assuage its Chinese urban supporters who fear the establishment of an Islamic state should the Muslim-based PAS sweep to power.

Kok described the two-hour secret meeting on Saturday between DAP and PAS as being cordial and frank, and that the talks had already been planned in advance following two failed meetings in July and August.

"The decision to leave the coalition was not a rash one. The grassroots have urged us to leave. Both sides have expressed their views during the meeting and both could not agree, that's very normal," Kok said.

Eleven DAP top leaders were at the meeting, namely life adviser Dr Chen Man Hin, chairperson Lim Kit Siang, deputy chairperson Karpal Singh, vice-chairpersons Dr Tan Seng Giaw and Ahmad Nor, secretary-general Kerk Kim Hock, deputy secretaries general Chong Eng and Zulkifli Mohd Noor, organising secretary Tan Kok Wai, publicity secretary Ronnie Liu and Kok.

At least five PAS leaders attended the morning meeting between the two parties, namely, deputy president and Terengganu Mentri Besar Abdul Hadi Awang, spiritual adviser and Kelantan Mentri Besar Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, supreme council member Dr Hasan Ali, vice-president Mustapha Ali and secretary-general Nasharuddin Mohd Isa.

President Fadzil Noor, who is also the opposition leader, could not attend as he was hospitalised then.

No clear plan

Although Kok did not rule out future co-operation between the two parties, she remained cautious.

"Anything is possible and our common enemy is still the Barisan Nasional but it largely depend on the issue," Kok said.

Meanwhile, veteran DAP leader Chen told malaysiakini that the PAS leadership did not give a clear plan of its version of an Islamic state.

"PAS only gave us only a shadow of their view of political rights, human rights and women's rights. They have also not told us what kind of government they would put in place, whether it is a theocracy or if there will be a council of ulamas governing," Chen said.

He said it didn't help that PAS insisted on highlighting the present conditions in the Kelantan and Terengganu state governments instead of elaborating more on the issue of the Islamic state.

"We asked to them to explain repeatedly but they just did not want to," said Chen.

PAS leaders who attended the meeting on Saturday could not be contacted for comments.

Sarawak DAP had pulled out of the state level BA late last year, citing differences with another BA partner, Keadilan, as well as the 'smear' campaign by Barisan Nasional Chinese-based parties which had exploited DAP's association with PAS.