DAP Youth chief Teng Chang Khim was today accused of trying to block party national chairperson Lim Kit Siang from contesting for the Petaling Jaya Utara parliamentary seat in the next elections.

Party secretary-general Kerk Kim Hock claimed that Teng was "using him to counter Lim" when he suggested that Kerk contest for the seat instead.

Teng's suggestion which was made during a party dinner in Melaka on Dec 29 had sparked a verbal salvo between the two leaders.

However, Teng said today that he was retracting his call, hoping that it would bring an end to the bickering.

Teng claimed his suggestion was "sincere" because he felt then that Kerk was the right candidate to lead the DAP Selangor division.

"I had misjudged Kerk's courage to face the challenge of contesting in another constituency," he added in a press statement.

According to Kerk, who is Kota Melaka MP, a DAP task force had recommended that Lim contest for the PJ Utara seat.

Meanwhile, Kerk today also criticised Teng for claiming the secretary-general had abetted with him in suggesting last July that Lim should not seek re-election at the party elections the following month.

"I am most shocked at the manner he (Teng) tried to defend the indefensible - by implying that I had kept quiet because the lie might have been advantageous to me," said Kerk.

Kerk added that he had informed several party leaders about Teng's intention to go against the party top leadership last July.

However, the party leaders decided not to act against Teng and instead appointed him to lead the Youth Affairs Bureau, added Kerk.

"This was because I had persuaded party leaders that we should deal with him in a moderate way," he said.

'A liar'

When Teng suggested that Kerk leave Kota Melaka and contest in PJ Utara, the secretary- general immediately responded, saying that Teng had an ulterior motive to "use, exploit and manipulate public opinion for self-interest" at the expense of the party leadership.

He also branded Teng as a "liar" who had pre-planned the proposal for Lim not to seek re-election and alerted the media beforehand.

Teng had said then that his proposal was spontaneous in response to questions from the media.

However, the matter took a drastic turn today when a New Straits Times report quoted Teng asking Kerk why the "lie" was only brought up now and not then.

"Was it because my so-called lie was to his advantage then?" queried Teng.

When contacted later, Teng said he was of the impression that Kerk was "abandoning" him after the secretary-general's interests had been taken care of.

In a related matter, Teng reiterated that there is no split within DAP and that the media should not misconstrue his disagreements with Kerk as a signal of a widening rift in the party.

He also called on the media not to draw conclusions from reports of differing views of DAP leaders with regards to the party's position not to campaign with the Barisan Alternatif parties for the upcoming by-election in Indera Kayangan, Perlis.

On Monday, Kerk had announced that DAP would not be helping out its former opposition allies to campaign for the seat which fell vacant after following the death of Barisan Nasional state assembly representative Khor Liang Tee on Dec 19.

It is learnt that some party leaders are unhappy with the decision.