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Malaysian party alliance showing signs of discord

Malaysia's fragile opposition alliance yesterday tussled for control over one of the states it seized in stunning weekend elections, in their first open sign of discord.

The three-party alliance has struggled to establish a coalition to govern northern Perak, one of its prizes after polls that saw it snatch four states and a third of parliamentary seats from the Barisan Nasional coalition.

The Chinese-based Democratic Action Party (DAP) claimed most seats in Perak, but a candidate from the Islamic party PAS was chosen as chief minister.

DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang had threatened a boycott on Wednesday of the swearing-in ceremony, only to swiftly backtrack yesterday when the party said it had agreed on a power-sharing arrangement with PAS.

UNREPRESENTATIVE

However, the third member of the alliance -- the Keadilan party -- which is headed by opposition figurehead Anwar Ibrahim, said it objected to the arrangement, which it said would not represent the state's ethnic makeup.

Keadilan Deputy President Syed Husin Ali said the DAP would take eight seats in the state legislature, leaving just two remaining seats to the other parties.

"We ask that this composition be discussed again and if the composition is not altered to the satisfaction of all parties involved, Keadilan will not take part in the administration of Perak," he said in a statement.

DAP State Chairman Ngeh Koo Ham, who is set to be the state's deputy chief minister, expressed surprise over the comments which he described as premature.

"I don't know why Keadilan is making this statement because all this is still very premature. We have yet to make any decision on what the composition of the Exco [legislature] will be," he said.

DAP would normally have the right to name the chief minister, but state law says the candidate should be a Muslim Malay, so the opposition alliance left it to the state's sultan to decide between their three candidates.

When he selected the PAS candidate, Lim said he was "shocked" at the decision and that its Perak assemblymen would stay away from the swearing-in ceremony.

Ngee said the boycott threat was averted under a deal where PAS had agreed that all decisions made by the chief minister would have to go through the new DAP-controlled state executive council first.
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