KUALA LUMPUR: The rumblings of unhappiness within the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition are getting louder, with its Indian leaders planning to meet today to decide whether to pull out en-masse.

In northern Perak state, meanwhile, two PR leaders went against the advice of the Menteri Besar by holding elections for village chiefs.

PR is made up of the multiracial Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), the Chinese-based Democratic Action Party and the conservative Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS). But nine months after winning five of the 13 Malaysian states in the general election, the coalition's once-mighty image is being weakened by open feuding.

More than 50 Indian leaders in PKR plan to hold a 'crucial' meeting today to discuss concerns that they are being discriminated against and marginalised by PR leaders, said Mr P. Jenapala, who quit as PKR deputy secretary-general last week.

They are unhappy over appointments to government-linked companies, plus local councils and village committees, in PR-controlled states.

One option on the table is a mass resignation of the 150,000 Indian members of the PR parties, followed by the setting up of a new party to represent the interests of Indian members, Mr Jenapala said. PAS does not have non-Muslim Indian members, but several hundred Indians are members of its PAS Supporters Club.

Another option is for them to remain and fight from within.

'We are meeting so that we can come up with a strong stand on whether we should remain within the parties of the pact or otherwise,' Mr Jenapala said.

The meeting is being called just days after MP S. Manikavasagam threatened to quit PKR over several municipal issues.

In Perak, meanwhile, two PR state leaders went against the wishes of Menteri Besar Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin by holding elections for village chief posts in their districts. Datuk Nizar had decreed that such posts would be made by appointment - seen by many as a means of rewarding party loyalists.

These disputes reflect the fraying of PR, which has said it wants to take over the federal government. Party leaders now want the open bickering to stop and say the infighting has been blown up by the media, which is controlled by the governing Barisan Nasional government.

THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK