SNAP's ghost haunting SPDP

By Simon Peter

KUCHING, May 24, 2014: Amateur historians may well take note that the history of the Sarawak National Party (SNAP) is being rewritten - through the break-up of its break-away group, the Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP).

SPDP is now led by tycoon Tiong King Sing as acting president after the sudden departure of president William Mawan Ikom to join Parti Tenaga Rakyat Sarawak (Teras).

SNAP may have been defunct now after its appeal was rejected by the Federal Court against a deregistration order of the Registrar of Societies (RoS), but its ghost is invisibly haunting and hovering over SPDP and its leaders.

SPDP is now in a mess, with a mass exodus of its Dayak members and leaders joining Mawan to Parti Teras.

When SPDP was formed in 2002 after SNAP was issued with a deregistration order by Ros, a large number of SNAP's Dayak members left to join SPDP.

SNAP was considerably weakened by the mass exodus and when it was finally "buried" when the Federal Court reaffirmed, on Jan 17, 2013, the RoS' order, the party was just an empty shell.

Will SPDP be facing the same fate as its "mother" party, SNAP?.

SPDP's strength may be gauged in the state election due in 2016. If Adenan decides that SPDP and Parti Teras will face each other in those seats contested by SPDP in 2011 state election, then we will know which party commands a much wider support among the Dayak voters.

This is where Parti Teras has an upperhand because its Dayak leaders are well-known and recognised by the Dayak community.

It is not too late for the remaining Dayak leaders in SPDP to join Mawan in Parti Teras, that is, if they want to remain in BN politics for a long time to come.

Let's trace SNAP's history from 1981.

In the 1981 party election, deputy president James Wong defeated secretary general Leo Moggie for the post of president which was vacated by Dunstan Endawie Enchana upon his appointment as a Malaysian High Commissioner to Australia and New Zealand.

Among those Dayak leaders who supported Wong were former president Stephen Kalong Ningkan, Endawie, Balan Seling, Edward Jeli and Michael Ben.

Moggie's main reason for going for the top post was that since SNAP was a Dayak-based multi-racial party, it should be led by a Dayak.

Dayak leaders who supported Wong did not agree with the reason.

Soon after the 1982 parliamentary election, Daniel Tajem was sacked from SNAP on grounds that he supported Independent Jonathan Nawin in Batang Lupar.

Nawin defeated Rufus Nanang of SNAP, and Wong and his supporters were quick to blame Tajem for the defeat.

Tajem denied the allegation, saying that it was an excuse to get rid of him from SNAP because Wong and his supporters felt threatened with his presence in the party.

Unhappy with the treatments they received in SNAP, Moggie, Tajem and other Dayak leaders including Joseph Samuel broke away to form Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) in 1983.

They insisted that only the Dayaks knew the aspirations of the Dayak community, certainly not other communities.

Of course, PBDS was labelled as a racist party by Wong and his supporters.

"If you want to label us as a racist party, then you are also labelling Umno, MIC and MCA and PBB as racist parties," they would reply."These parties are race-based," they would respond.

The then Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud, out of necessity as he wanted the Dayaks to be represented in the government, allowed ministers and assistant ministers from PBDS to be in his Cabinet under a BN3 Plus formula.

The BN3 referred to PBB, SUPP and SNAP with PBDS as a "Plus" in the government.

Naturally, Wong objected to PBDS participation in the government. Taib, nevertheless, disregarded the objection, saying that he did not want the Dayaks represented by PBDS to be left out from mainstream development.

SUPP, under Stephen Yong as president, supported Taib's rationalisation in inviting PBDS to be in his government.

Now, current Chief Minister Adenan Satem is facing the same situation.

There are 11 elected representatives who have left SUPP and SPDP to board a year-old pro-BN Parti Teras in the middle of this month.

They include Mawan and Local Government and Community Development Minister Wong Soon Koh (former SUPP Sibu branch chief).

Looking at the names of the 11 elected representatives, they form quite  a formidable force - a fact that Adenan cannot simply ignore.

The good thing is they have pledged their full support for the chief minister.

With this favourable factor, it is mostly likely that Adenan will accommodate Parti Teras to be in his government.

There is little point in objecting to Parti Teras' participation in the government. After all, Mawan and Soon as well as several others as assistant ministers are already in Adenan's Cabinet.

What's there to object when the prerogative to appoint who will be in the Cabinet belongs exclusively to the chief minister himself?

Of course, SPDP and SUPP leaders have every reason to object because they are the ones at the losing end. But they must remember that they cannot make demands from the chief minister.

If they are not happy, they have the option to leave the BN family and see if they can survive outside.

Alternatively, they can opt to be in the opposition at the state level, but members of the BN at the federal level.

There is already a precedent when PBDS was an opposition party at the state level, and a BN component party at the federal level from 1987 to 1994.