Sarawak assemblyman for Ngemah, Gabriel Adit Damong, who crossed over to PKR almost a year ago, is understood to be under pressure from financial woes for which he sought help from the party but in vain.

Over the past week, Adit has been linked to the formation of a new party, supposedly called Pakatan Rakyat Sarawak.

chua jui meng join pkr 180709 crowd However, sources say the Kuching office of the Registrar of Societies has not received any application concerning the formation of a new party.

A PKR political bureau meeting in Petaling Jaya last Tuesday was briefed on Adit's position in relation to bank overdrafts on the basis of documents the party obtained.

PKR vice president Mustaffa Kamal Ayub, who was appointed head of Sarawak PKR earlier this year, disclosed this to Malaysiakini today as background to rumours swirling in political circles in the state that Adit had formed a new party.

Mustaffa clarified that Adit had not disclosed to PKR his financial problems when he decided to join the party last year.

He said he was not surprised to hear stories of Adit being linked to efforts to form a new party because "he told me that he intended to set up such a party".

Bank overdraft overdue

Mustaffa declined to say if Adit had issued a threat to form a new party should his efforts to gain assistance in resolving his financial problems draw a blank.

"After he had approached us in PKR for help to resolve his financial problems and was informed that the party was unable to do so, he was disappointed," said Mustaffa.

It is believed that Adit's financial woes became acute recently when judgment was delivered against him in the matter of the bank overdrafts.

Mustaffa declined to comment on whether Adit's financial predicament had rendered him vulnerable to the manipulations of other players in Sarawak politics.

However, Mustaffa reiterated that "in the course of discussing his problems, Adit did tell me he intended to form his own party".

"I tried to persuade him against such a move but the last time we spoke he told me that he had not formed the party as yet," said Mustaffa.

"I hope he has not done any such thing. It would be rash," cautioned Mustaffa.

When Adit joined PKR about a year ago, he brought the party's representation in the Sarawak Assembly to two seats, lawyer Dominique Ng having been the sole representative after he was elected in Padungan on a PKR ticket in the 2006 state polls.

Adit was the Ngemah assemblyman for Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak, a sometime member of the Sarawak state BN, for several terms before ending up without a party after PBDS was deregistered in 2004.

He stood as an Independent in the 2006 state polls and won.