The crisis in the Sarawak National Party (Snap) deepened today when elected representatives of a rebel faction decided at their own central executive committee meeting to call for a national council meeting in two weeks time "to resolve once and for all the crisis facing the party".
The CEC meeting, held at the party headquarters after its locked doors were forced open, was chaired by deputy president and member of parliament for Saratok Peter Tinggom, 78, and attended by seven other CEC members, giving them a majority of one in the committee.
According to his group Peter Nyarok, vice-president and assistant minister of tourism; Dr Judson Sakai Tagai, vice-president, Youth head and assistant minister for infrastructure development; Peter Nansian, assemblyperson for Tasik Biru and chairman of the Sarawak Housing and Development Commission; Jacob Sagan, vice-president and the member of parliament for Baram; Winnie Jolly, Women's chief and vice-president; and Geman Itam, vice-president and former assemblyperson for Meluan.
Also present was Deputy National Unity and Community Development Minister Dr Tiki Lafe, whom the party president replaced with lawyer John Antau as an appointed CEC member recently.
Locksmith summoned
Earlier, the group summoned a locksmith to open the roller-shutter to the Snap headquarters building in Rubber Road, Kuching as the office had closed since last Friday. The main glass door inside was, however, not locked.
Speaking before a packed media conference later, Tinggom said that on May 20 he had sent a letter to secretary-general Justine Jinggut requesting him to call for a CEC meeting last Friday.
"One day before the scheduled date for the CEC meeting, YB Judson Tagal was around the Snap headquarters and found the door closed, even though Gawai Dayak [a local festival] is still many more days away," said the deputy president.
Because of this, the meeting was rescheduled to today, which also encountered the same problem , leading the group to hire a locksmith to force open the office.
Malaysiakini understands that while this was going on, the party's deputy secretary-general Stanley Jugol, who is also a political secretary to the Sarawak chief minister, lodged a police report.
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