The faction within Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) led by its president Daniel Tajem has labelled a rival group's gathering in Damai last weekend as a "non-event".

More than 400 delegates had met as a show of support for the faction led by Dr James Masing, in place of the triennial delegates conference (TDC), as they had already arranged to travel to Kuching.

They passed a resolution to support Masing as president and Sng Chee Hua as deputy president.

The PBDS supreme council had called off the TDC last week at short notice due to differences of opinion over the proposed delegates' list to be used for the party polls.

The Barisan Nasional (BN) management committee which was to have supervised the elections did not dispute the decision, but is expected to meet tomorrow to discuss the matter.

Intent implied

In a statement today, PBDS information chief Paul Kadang said the Masing-led gathering was not a TDC but the culmination of road shows held in preceding weeks around the state.

Kadang said: "The Masing faction would want the public to believe that the presence of over 400 'delegates' in the Damai rally was evidence of massive support. The implication is that they deserve to be given control of the party."

He also claimed that the status of some of the delegates was doubtful.

"There were rumours to the effect that state and federal leaders were flying in to address and lend credence to the rally. It is all clear that the Damai gathering was a non-event from the party's viewpoint," he said.

"It is clear that the organisers were hoping to impress the top political leaders in the country, with an eye to influence decisions on the party's future."

It is not certain how the 'endorsement' of the weekend gathering may influence the BN management committee, which is chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

The Masing faction is anticipating a final deregistration of the party. It was deregistered last December, but reinstated in March on condition that the leadership tussle is resolved through fresh elections.

There is increasing pressure on the BN leadership to consider de-registration because of "irreconcilable" differences between the two groups and because of the political fallout on other BN partners.