KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 19 (AFP) - A Malaysian opposition newspaper editor facing a charge of sedition on Wednesday applied to the government for permission to start a new daily newspaper.

"This is a test of whether there will be democracy or not," said Zulkifli Sulong, editor of Harakah, after submitting a formal application to start a newspaper called Purnama.

"If the government party can get newspapers, why not a company belonging to the opposition?"

Purnama means full moon, which is the symbol of the Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) -- the largest opposition party.

Zulkifli and Harakah's printer Chia Lim were charged with sedition over an article in Harakah when they appeared in court last Thursday.

The official Bernama news agency said the article related to an alleged conspiracy by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and his supporters against jailed ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim.

Also arrested and charged last week were Karpal Singh, deputy chairman of the opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP) and counsel for Anwar, and Marina Yusoff, a vice-president of the National Justice Party formed by Anwar's wife.

Anwar's former aide Mohamad Ezam Mohamad Nor, the party's youth chief, was charged under the Official Secrets Act with possession of classified documents.

All five are free on bail pending trial.

The government licences newspapers and has threatened Harakah with closure on the grounds it is violating the terms of its licence by selling copies to non-members of the party.

The bi-weekly, the only major opposition organ among a solidly pro-government press, achieved a dramatic rise in circulation last year. It recorded its highest circulation of 380,000 per issue -- larger than most mainstream papers -- in the week before the November 29 election, which saw PAS make major inroads into support for Mahathir's United Malays National Organisation (UMNO).

Zulkifli said circulation was now around 250,000 following government moves to restrict sales to party members only. He said officials recently confiscated about 800 copies on the grounds that they were being sold to the public.

Zulkifli said he had sought a permit for the new newspaper using a company belonging to PAS. He said UMNO indirectly owned two leading Malay-language newspapers through associated companies.

Purnama would have no connection with Harakah, he said, and would not be an opposition paper. "It will present opposition news fairly and even UMNO news."

If Purnama were approved, he said, Harakah might be turned into an in-house weekly or monthly journal.

Harakah managing director Hishamuddin Yahaya told AFP he believed the home ministry would consider the request to start the new paper. He said the ministry had encouraged Harakah a year ago to apply for a daily.

Hishamuddin questioned the reason for the crackdown on Harakah. "What is so harmful about it?" he asked. "It is nothing subversive and can't prejudice national security. Why should they be so strict? "If they refuse us this time (for the daily) they are really stifling information."

Lim Kit Siang, DAP chairman, described the curbs on Harakah as "the modern version of book-burning of the dark ages."

He said leaders of the Alternative Front opposition alliance would meet next week to consider a five-pronged response to the arrest and prosecution of opposition figures.

Lim said this would focus on the court battle; protection of fundamental rights and democratic freedoms; upholding the rule of law; protecting press freedom and asserting the right to information in an information society.

Lim said Karpal's "unprecedented" prosecution for a remark he made in court during Anwar's trial meant the rule of law "has come under a new assault."

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