MCA and Gerakan must cooperate to counter opposition party DAP's attempts to instil fear among the Chinese community over the Islamic state issue.

Gerakan president Lim Keng Yaik who said this today, added the Chinese community should be given an accurate explanation concerning the matter.

"We will cooperate in giving this explanation. We will have joint coordination in facing whatever issue raised by the DAP," he was quoted as saying by Bernama.

Accusing DAP of employing "dirty tactics", Lim claimed the opposition party was trying to gain sympathy from the Chinese community and win its support for the next general elections.

"I am confident that we can counter the DAP's attempts and towards this end the Gerakan and the MCA must cooperate," he said after attending a party briefing in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan.

Gerakan, which joined the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition in 1974, has always been at loggerheads with MCA - the second largest component party in BN.

Challenge accepted

In an immediate response, DAP national chairperson Lim Kit Siang denied the accusation and challenged the Gerakan chief to spell out the instances where DAP had misled the community on the Islamic state issue.

"It is most extraordinary that those who Malaysians know resort to such tactics now hurl similar accusations against others," he said.

"We accept the challenge from Gerakan and MCA on the matter and we are prepared to meet them in a public debate on the issue," he added.

The opposition leader also claimed that Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's recent claim that Malaysia was already an Islamic state was against the country's 45-year-old constitution which states that "we are a democratic, secular, multi-racial and religious country".

DAP leaders have been vocal against the idea of an Islamic state espoused by both Umno and PAS.