KUALA LUMPUR, May 12 — PKR has rejected allegations used by PAS to justify terminating ties between the two parties.

PKR secretary-general Datuk Saifuddin Nasution Ismail also said his party will convene an immediate leadership meeting to discuss the development, which could put its control of the Selangor administration in doubt.

"Keadilan is disappointed with the decision made by the PAS Syura Ulama Council but we respect it as PAS has the freedom to do so as a political party,” he said in a statement.

He then stressed that PKR was an inclusive, multiracial party that was against corruption and abuse of power, and is interested on forming lasting ties between opposition allies.

PAS yesterday officially ended all links or cooperation with PKR, with the Islamist party’s powerful Syura Council deciding that the move was necessary in order to defend the party’s Islamic agenda.

The Syura Council accused PKR of breaking many terms of its conditional cooperation with PAS, failing to support the Islamist party in its Islamic agenda, and working against it in two by-elections last year.

PAS’s separation from the larger Opposition could lead to multi-cornered contests in the general election that would be advantageous to the ruling BN, with some analyses predicting that the Islamist party could end up the biggest loser.