The Sarawak National Party's (Snap) rebel group, led by vice-president and state minister of environment and public health William Mawan (photo), is planning to register a new party in the event that Snap is de-registered next month.

That is one of the options being mulled by key rebel leaders should they feel that they could do better on their own instead of joining other parties.

Malaysiakini understands from reliable sources that one name that has been suggested for the new party is Sarawak National Progressive Party (SNPP).

Mawan has mentioned in recent weeks about the possibility of forming a new party if the Registrar of Societies (ROS) can be persuaded from not going ahead to cancel the registration of Snap a member of the four-party state ruling Barisan Nasional.

Most Snap members aligned to both of the feuding factions have more or less resigned to the likelihood of the party being deleted from the ROS' files after Oct 13 when the registrar finally decides on the matter.