PRM to contest elections under allys symbol

Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) candidates will contest the general election under the Parti Keadilan Nasional symbol, as a result of the Registrar of Societies' (ROS) rejection of their application to merge.

PRM president Dr Syed Husin Ali said the decision was made in view of the unlikely possibility that the ROS would return a favourable answer to their appeal in time for the elections.

The two parties had launched Parti Keadilan Rakyat last August as the merged entity, pending the ROS decision on their application for change of name. However, the proposed acronym - Keadilan - was found to be unsuitable and the application was rejected.

An appeal has also been submitted to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in his capacity as home minister, but the parties have yet to receive a reply.

"(The government) may be afraid of the threat that a merged entity might pose. We are also not sure that it will be approved even after the elections," Syed Husin said when contacted today.

He said PRM candidates will still be contesting but on the Keadilan ticket, so as to reflect the "spirit of unity" intended by the merger.

"PRM will remain as it is. It was the decision at the party congress last year that PRM will remain as a registered party until such time that the application is approved by the registrar," he noted.

Vice-president R Sivarasa said that, although the two parties have agreed to use the original Keadilan symbol during campaigning, they will also take the opportunity to "promote" their new symbol.

"The appeal (process) could take more than a year," he said.

Avoiding confusion

A party insider said the decision for PRM candidates to run on the Keadilan ticket was mainly to avoid confusing voters.

"It would be confusing to voters if the old symbol (the seladang ) continues to be used after the launch of the merged party. We also do not want to play the government's game by contesting under separate banners," said the source who declined to be named.

"The best way to show the spirit of the merger is to use one common symbol."

Meanwhile, asked about election preparations, Syed Husin said the party has selected prospective candidates.

"We have identified the candidates and the areas where we want to contest. PRM has co-ordinated meetings with Keadilan under the politics bureau of the Parti Keadilan Rakyat," he said.

However, he declined to elaborate on the discussions, saying that the plans will be made public at a later period.

While the general election is due to be held by November, political pundits are predicting that the polls will be called by April so as to include the Sabah elections.