Four years on, the proposed merger between two Dayak-based parties, Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP), is heading nowhere despite continuing declarations of interest in the idea.

When contacted, PRS secretary-general Wilfred Nissom claimed that the proposal is alive, but that both parties are busy at the moment.

dublin unting batang air prs rep SPDP deputy president Peter Nyarok, who heads the party’s merger committee, said: “It is still on, but we cannot have any meeting yet as Dublin Unting (left) has passed away. Otherwise people say that we are disrespectful to Unting.”

Unting, who died on Feb 24, was chairperson of the PRS merger committee. He had been in coma since suffering a massive stroke last May.

The proposal was said to have been suggested by Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud on May 20, 2005.

james jemut masing and william mawan and sarawak SPDP president William Mawan (right in photo) and PRS president James Masing (left in photo) had lauded the idea, leading to a committee being set up in both parties to study the framework of a merger. However, the committees have hardly met.

On May 7 last year, Taib again brought up the issue with Masing and Mawan, saying he is serious about seeing the merger go through.

Nothing has been done to date, however. While some members in the two parties are losing interest, others are anxious to see the proposal succeed because they want a stronger Dayak voice.

“We have not been serious about unity. If we are serious about solving Dayak problems (related to) land, development, business opportunities, education, recruitment into the civil service, welfare and so on, then we must be united,” said PRS supreme council member Cr Joseph Allen.

“Unity can only be (achieved) through the merger. The sooner it is done the better it will be.”

Allen said he had recently raised the subject with Mawan, who had said he is prepared to be the Number 2 in the new entity.

Relationship within BN

Allen further said that, if the two parties merge, the federal and state Barisan Nasional (BN) will have to take the new entity seriously, given that it will bring together 17 state assemblypersons and 10 members of parliament.

There is resentment over the current perception that PRS is being sidelined by both the state and federal BN governments.

prs parti rakyat sarawak logo However, Tedewin Ngumbang, another PRS supreme council member, claimed that the party is slowly freeing itself from the image that it is the state BN’s whipping-boy and showing more independence in its outlook and activities.

During the Batang by-election campaign, for example, PRS had raised the funds required, contrary to the popular notion that towkays and the Sarawak BN had financed the whole exercise.

“When the party holds its triennial delegates conference this year, some members will want answers to issues like NCR land and the party’s relations with other BN partners,” he added.

“Definitely, the merger with SPDP will be one of the issues to be discussed - either we proceed with it or abandon it.”

SPDP was formed on Nov 8, 2002 following a leadership crisis in the Sarawak National Party (Snap), while PRS was formed on Oct 21, 2004, also following a leadership crisis in Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS).

Both Snap and PBDS have since been deregistered, but Snap has been given a stay of execution pending its appeal to the court.