Masing's trusted man resigns from PRS

Kuching, March 27, 2012: Patrick Sibat Sujang, a close confidante and a trusted man of Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president Tan Sri Dr James Masing, has resigned from the party today, saying that he wants to continue his political struggle with Pakatan Raykat.

“I have lost faith in the Barisan Nasional leadership,” he said in an interview after emailing his resignation letter to PRS secretary-general Datuk Wilfred Nissom.

His resignation as a member of PRS as well as a member of the supreme council took effect immediately.

Sibat wrote:”I would like to tender my letter of resignation as a member of Parti Rakyat Sarawak as well as a member of the supreme council with immediate effect.

“I wish to thank my former colleagues for their support and fellowship towards me all this while,” he concluded.

Asked what prompted him to resign,  Sibat said:”I have always been a Barisan Nasional man all this while, but in the last five years, I saw a lot of things which I think were not properly managed and that is why we have so many unsolved problems.

“These include the issues concerning the native customary rights land which have not been handled properly,” he said.

“I believe that these issues could be better handled with the change in the governments at the state and federal levels,” he said.

“When I look at the PR struggles and its leadership as well as their wisdom, there is a place for everyone under the Malaysian sun,” he said, adding:”I believe that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim can handle the job as the prime minister of Malaysia better.”

He said he believed in the struggle of the Pakatan Rakyat and the wisdom of its leaders in managing the country.

On PRS role in the Barisan Nasional, Sibat  said there is nothing much it can do, being a small party.

He said he has a feeling that the leaders of the three component parties of the State BN – SPDP, PRS and SUPP – fear Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud.

 “There is always the spirit of fear among leaders because Taib is very powerful politically.

“I regard as truth Masing’s statement asking the people not to lawan the towkay.

“But only this time, the towkay is Taib and the people who should not lawan the towkay are the BN leaders,” he suggested.

“You can’t talk much within the Barisan Nasional because what you talk may be misconstrued as against the Barisan Nasional leadership,” he said.

He said there is no point for him to remain in PRS since it cannot do much for the Dayak community.

“Being a small party, it has its limit so it is not that effective.”

On his relationship with Masing, Sibat said he still considers the party president as a personal friend.

“We have been friends for a long time and I don’t think politics will divide us apart,” he said.

Sibat was one of the promoters of PRS in 2003 before the de-registration of Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) in 2004.

PBDS was then in a serious leadership crisis.

One faction, led by Masing, knew that PBDS was about to be deregistered by the Registrar of Societies (ROS) so they came with an idea to form a new party to accommodate Wakil Rakyats and PBDS members supporting Masing.

When PBDS was eventually deregistered, PRS was formed while those supporting PBDS president Datuk Seri Daniel Tajem joined opposition parties or remained partyless.

Among Tajem’s loyalists was current Sarawak PKR leader Baru Bian.

Meanwhile, Nissom said the party cannot stop any members from resigning.

“It is up to them,” he said, adding that the party would make appropriate comment after receiving Sibat’s resignation letter.

“We will discuss the resignation in our party’s supreme council meeting scheduled for April 13,” he added.

He said he does not think it is proper for Sibat to send his resignation letter by emailing it.

“It has to be hand-delivered to the party headquarters,” he explained. By Sematong Express.

SPDP has successfully held its TGA, but members may raise questions if Tiong becomes party president later

Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) has successfully  concluded its triennial general assembly (TGA) in Bintulu.

This is against a background of a troubled period for the party including having to deal with the rebellion staged by five senior members and the losses of two seats to the Opposition in last year’s state election.

Former deputy president Datuk Peter Nyarok’s defeat in Krian to a political novice sent shockwaves within the party and the State Barisan Nasional.

“How could this be?” was the question most asked among the party members considering that Nyarok, an assistant minister in the chief minister’s office then, had done much for the people in Krian since winning the seat in the 1983 state election.

SPDP president Tan Sri William Mawan’s leadership was clearly tested in overcoming the problems from the five senior members or the Gang of Five as they are politically known.

The five – former senior vice president Datuk Peter Nansian, former vice presidents Datuk Sylvester Entrie Muran and Datuk Dr Tiki Lafe, former information chief Paulus Gumbang and former supreme council member Rosey Yunus – had become torns in the flesh and had belittled Mawan’s leadership with their accusations and statements.

They accused Mawan of being controlled by Bintulu Member of Parliament Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing, who has just been elected deputy president of the party at the TGA, in leading the party.

As cool as an ice, Mawan denied the labelling, saying that he has his own mind, but of course, he has to consult other party leaders on the party affairs and policies.

At the end of the day, he has to make his own decisions.

And for those who have known Mawan, they know that he has a strong personality and a person who is willing to listen to suggestions.

“That is how he works and leads,” explains his close friend.

His accommodative style, perhaps, is being used to attack him as is the case when the Gang of Five accused him of being a weak leader.

But the show of support accorded to him at the TGA was proof that the accusation was baseless and trivial.

One clear sign that came out of the TGA was that the party has recovered from its internal crisis, with the delegates giving their full support to the party’s leadership.

The crisis, which started soon after the 2009 TGA, has threatened to break the party apart since the Gang of Five, apart from being the Wakil Rakyat, had strong support among the grassroots.

In fact, all of them recorded increased number of votes in the April 16, 2011 state election while Mawan (Pakan) and another state assemblyman Wong Judat (Meluan) registered decreased number of votes.

The increases in the number of votes which the Gang of Five individually obtained showed their popularity among the grassroots.

The election of some faces into the supreme council at the TGA is an indication that the party is changing in tandem with the situation, and at the same time, the old guards were still retained because of their experiences and to guide the up and coming leaders.

The election of Tiong, BN Backbencher Club chairman, as the deputy president is well received by the delegates. In fact, his name was the only one nominated to contest the post while Nyarok decided to step aside for him to take over.

If Mawan decides to step down as party president, one day, Tiong would be the natural choice to take over, and this is where succession issue could be questioned.

There is no doubt that Tiong is a good and respected leader. The support from the Dayaks in his Bintulu constituency is beyond questioned because he has gained their confidence and the leader they can rely on.

If indeed Tiong succeeds Mawan as president later, his position in SPDP will be similar to that of the late Datuk Amar James Wong Kim Min in the Sarawak National Party (SNAP) in 1981.

When the late  Wong took over as SNAP president from Datuk Amar Dunstan Endawie in 1981, many educated young Dayak leaders left the party, leading to the formation of Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak in 1983.

Among them were Tan Sri Leo Moggie, Datuk Seri Daniel Tajem and the late Joseph Samuel.

They reasoned that since SNAP drew most of its members from the Dayak community, its president should also be a Dayak.

Since Wong becoming president, SNAP has gone through crisis after crisis, and the members who did not agree with his leadership simply left and formed their own party.

Apart from Moggie and his supporters, the others who also left were former senior vice president Dr Patau Rubis and his supporters, and they formed State Reform Party in 1996.

The leadership tussle between Wong and Mawan led to the deregistration of SNAP in 2002. After SNAP was deregistered Mawan formed SPDP while Wong took the deregistration to court which in later years quashed the order of the Registrar of Societies (ROS).

What was happening in SNAP should be a valuable lesson to SPDP. What the present and future leadership of the party should know is that special recognition and consideration must be accorded to the Dayak members.

Wong failed to give special considerations to the Dayaks in the party because he treated all members, regardless of their racial origins, equally.  This is a mistake because the Dayaks, although they have the numbers, they are not as politically and economically advanced as the Chinese and Malays.

Ends

SNAP, STAR likely to use common symbol in general election

Kuching, March 26, 2012: Sarawak National Party (SNAP), Sarawak-based State Reform Party (STAR) and Sarawak Chapter of the United Borneo Front (UBF) are likely to contest the coming general election under a common symbol.

Speaking to reporters after chairing a meeting here last night, Sabah Chapter of STAR deputy leader Daniel Jambun said:”We have more or less decided on the use of STAR symbol as our common symbol.

“We want to project ourselves as being a united members of the United Borneo Alliance, which is

championing for the Borneo Agenda propagated by Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitinggan,” he said.

Jeffrey, who is the chairman of the Sabah Chapter of STAR and leader of the UBF, briefly chaired the meeting which was attended by Sarawak STAR president Dripin Sakoi, SNAP vice president Dayrell Walter Entrie and chairman of the Sarawak Chapter of UBF, Mengga Mikoi.

Jeffrey had to leave the meeting after he was overcome by food poisoning.

“Apart from using a common symbol, we will also be using the same manifesto. At the same time, SNAP, Sarawak STAR and Sarawak Chapter of UBF would also be working together on the grounds, like having roadshows,” Jambun said.

Jambun, however, assured that the Borneo Alliance would work with the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) component parties – PKR, DAP and Pas- in Sarawak.

“Our intention is for the Opposition parties to challenge the BN in straight fights in all the 31 parliamentary seats in Sarawak,” he said.

“We also have made a decision not to contest in the urban constituencies where the DAP’s influence is very strong,” Jambun said.

He said the United Borneo Alliance is confident that the DAP will win all the urban seats.

“We don’t want to affect their chance by fielding candidates in the areas the DAP is contesting.

“We will also be giving way to some seats to PKR, like Saratok, Limbang and Baram,” he added, explaining that the United Borneo Alliance wants to let PKR facing the BN in these seats in straight fights.

Jambun said the Borneo Alliance would be negotiating with PR on the rest of the seats.

“Our door is open to PR component parties,” he added.

Jambun said that members of the United Borneo Alliance in Sabah are likely contest all the 25 seats at stake.

“But we have yet to decide on the common symbol and manifesto,” he said.

He said the leaders from the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP), Usno Club, the Sabah People’s Front and the Sabah Chapter of the United Borneo Front would meet soon to finalise the symbol and manifesto to be used in the election. By Sematong Express