DAP chairman Lim Kit Siang today denied a report quoting him as saying that his party 'has vowed never to form an alliance with PAS again'.

In a press statement, Lim said the report by the New Straits Times on its online news website yesterday was 'baseless, irresponsible and mischievous'.

He called on the newspaper to institute an inquiry on how the report, entitled 'DAP vows no more bedfellowing with PAS', could be published.

Lim was reported by NST to have uttered the statement during a party gathering in Miri, Sarawak on Friday night.

The NST Online report further quoted Lim as saying that DAP would 'fight its political struggle alone' and 'the question of working with PAS again does not arise anymore'.

The article also quoted Lim as saying that DAP no longer trusted PAS 'because, among others, we (DAP) did not get a fair deal on seat allocations, particularly during the last general elections'.

Translated

The Sarawak-based Sarawak Tribune today also carried a similar report on its online news website quoting Lim. The report's headline read 'DAP burns bridges with PAS'.

When contacted, Lim also refuted the report's contents, claiming that the daily was a 'mouthpiece' for Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud.

Meanwhile, NST's Miri correspondent Johannes Ridu who wrote the news said he stood by his story. "He did not say it in front of me alone," he said.

Ridu explained that Lim had spoken at the function in Mandarin and a fellow reporter from the Chinese daily, the Sin Chew Jit Poh, had translated Lim's speech for Ridu.