Trouble is brewing for PKR in Sarawak as Padungan state assemblyperson Dominique Ng resigned from the party’s powerful supreme council, it is reliably learnt today.

His resignation came in the wake of the humiliating defeat of PKR candidate Jawah Gerang in Batang Ai by-election on April 7, where Ng was the election coordinator.

Jawah, a former five-term MP for Lubok Antu, lost to BN's Malcolm Mussen Lamoh by more than double the margin that Nicholas Bawin, then standing on a Snap ticket, lost in the 2006 state elections to the then BN's incumbent Dublin Unting, whose death from illness led to the by-election.

Ng had been partly blamed for the party's poor performance. When contacted, Ng refused to comment on his shock decision to quit.

pkr keadilan sarawak 170406 dominique ng “How do you know that I have resigned?” he shot back.

Asked whether he had also resigned from the party, Ng ( left ), who is also PKR Kuching chief, said: "I'm not resigning from the party."

Ng was the highest vote-getter in the 20-member supreme council at the party’s 2006 election.

He was Sarawak state chief until Anwar Ibrahim, the party’s de facto leader, took over early this year.

Ng has been responsible for the registration of 13 PKR divisions in Sarawak. Several more are waiting to be incorporated into the party.

PKR has two seats in Sarawak - the other being Ngemah, who is being held by independent-turn- PKR assemblyperson Gabriel Adit.

Adit expressed surprise on hearing the news and described Ng as "second to none" in many aspects of the party affairs.

"He may not be a good leader for Sarawak; he is certainly a very good leader in certain aspects of the party affairs. In fact, he is second to none," said Adit, who is also a PKR supreme council member.

Unhappy over party reshuffle?

It is believed that Ng, a trained lawyer, could be dissatisfied over the recent party reshuffle, where he was apparently overlooked in filling key party posts.

An upcoming Sarawak leader, Baru Bian, the party’s new assistant secretary-general, has been instead appointed as member of the much-coveted PKR political bureau.

"I feel very honoured to have been appointed...,” said Baru. “I believe it is because the party is serious in focusing our effort to take over Sarawak in the next general election.”

Sarawak’s state election is due in the next two years and PKR is hoping to oust long-time Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud.

baru bian "This is the right move to have a Sarawakian sitting in the political bureau so as to communicate local issues to the party," Baru said, when asked to comment on his appointment announced by the party recently.

Baru ( left ), a well-known land rights lawyer, said Anwar is still Sarawak’s state chief for PKR.

Ng, an ex-DAP leader, has often been accused by his former party to be a stumbling block to closer cooperation between the two opposition allies in Sarawak.

Ng, the only PKR candidate to manage to win the last state election, was said to be unhappy after he was replaced as state chief.

To add salt to injury, the latest announcement on the re-organisation of the party at national level, excluded him as well as elected representative Adit from holding any significant party posts.