Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) has been reinstated as a registered political party following the Dayak-based party's appeal to the home minister.

A party spokesperson told malaysiakini that secretary-general Stanley Ajang Bato, who was in Kuala Lumpur together with several other party leaders, had "the official letter in hand".

"He has given the greenlight to party president Daniel Tajem to notify the press and members of the good news," he added.

PBDS was de-registered by the Registrar of Societies on Dec 5 last year, following a protracted internal leadership struggle.

Leaders of the faction led by Tajem then appealed to Barisan Nasional chairperson Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who is also home minister.

The reinstatement of PBDS as a duly registered party came three days before nomination day where names of potential candidates must be submitted to the Election Commission for the March 21 general election.

No details

Meanwhile in Kuching, the latest development has left rival PBDS leader Dr James Masing tongue tied on the issue of the party's line-up for the coming polls.

After being informed by reporters that Tajem had received an official letter from the ROS on the reinstatement, Masing immediately called for a press conference.

He said his faction was still in the dark over the matter. "We do not have the details," he added.

However, Masing indicated that his faction would call for a fresh election if it was confirmed that the party was reinstated.

The faction had provided six names, including a number of incumbents, to Chief Minister and state BN chief Abdul Taib Mahmud as potential election candidates.

Yesterday, Taib told reporters that he had already met some of the prospective PBDS candidates and that he was yet to meet the others.

This was in obvious reference to the three incumbents with the Tajem faction - deputy president Joseph Salang (Julau), Jawah Gerang (Lubok Antu) and another yet to be identified for Kanowit, the seat held by former president Leo Moggie.

The latest development however has changed the equation. Federal BN chief Abdullah, who was given a list of PBDS candidates by Moggie, will make the final decision tomorrow.

Support candidates

In a press statement issue later, Tajem called on all party members to support the chosen candidates to ensure a BN victory.

"By supporting the BN candidates wholeheartedly is one sure way of expressing our appreciation and gratitude to the prime minister," he added.

He also said that the party hoped to look into the structure of the supreme council and the ground level organisation to ensure the smooth and efficient functioning of the party machinery.

It is learnt that certain conditions could have been laid down for the party's reinstatement and these include the possibility of holding fresh elections or to work on bringing the rival factions together.

There have been strong indications of a reinstatement over the last few days, with Moggie revealing that he had made a personal appeal to Abdullah over the matter.

He had said that the party was important because it was synonymous with the Dayak community.

It was also learnt that since the de-registration, officers from the federal government were despatched to Sarawak to gauge the mood on the ground, which was full of anger and sadness.

Abdullah was said to have asked for independent reports from the ground.