Snap faction seeks condition for attending CEC meet
The dissenting group opposed to Sarawak National Party (Snap) president James Wong Kim Min's leadership announced today that they are prepared to attend the forthcoming central executive committee (CEC) meeting but on one pre-condition.
The agenda of the meeting, the dissident group said, must include an item regarding the convening of a national council meeting the party's highest decision-making body or if that is not possible, to bring forward the date of the triennial general meeting, scheduled in February next year, or alternatively, an extraordinary general meeting.
This was disclosed by Snap vice-president and Minister of Environment and Public Health William Mawan (photo) at a media conference attended by almost all members of his group, including another vice-president and Assistant Tourism Minister Peter Nyarok, Snap Youth leader and Assistant Minister of Infrastructure Development and Communications Dr Jakson Sakai Tagal and Women's chief Winnie Jolly.
Conspicuous for his absence in several of the group's media conferences, including this one, is Snap deputy president and the member of parliament for Saratok, Peter Tinggom. No reason was given for his absence.
On Monday, Snap's beleaguered president Wong issued a statement, announcing that he had called a CEC meeting and invited all committee members to attend.
He said the CEC would be the most ideal forum for the party's two factions to resolve their differences.
First official response
The rebel group, led by Mawan and Tinggom, has been seeking to oust Wong from his post. They have been seeking to convene a national council meeting to discuss the leadership crisis but this was aborted after Wong obtained a court injunction to stop the meeting.
The dissident leaders have claimed that they are backed by the majority of the party's 62 divisions.
Today's media conference was the group's first official reaction to the president's invitation to attend the CEC meeting.
The rebel group members, which made up about half of the CEC members, said they saw not much point in attending the meeting if the pre-condition could not be accepted by the president.
Wong is presently in Kuala Lumpur where he is expected to brief Prime Minister and BN chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad on the present crisis in Snap.
"We welcome any move within the party to end or solve the current crisis affecting the party," the Mawan group said in a seven-paragraph statement.
They added: "However, the move must be genuine and if one has made a mistake in the process of conducting the affairs of the party then one must be sincere enough to own up and apologise for the mistake, and sincerely go back to do what is right."
According to the group, the core of the problem is the CEC.
"Presently, some of the appointments of the members are defective. The CEC cannot now, with all its defects, be the problem creator, judge and jury and eventually the police officer."
Judge, jury, executioner
Meanwhile, the Registar of Societies was quoted as saying that Snap's application on the amendment of the party constitution to increase the number of appointed members from five to eight had been approved on June 6.
The president in consultation with members of CEC can go ahead with the appointment of the members to the maximum number of eight. But the Mawan group said such appointments must be reflective of the grassroots.
Most of the appointed members are those either linked to the president or his son Richard. The Mawan group expressed its objection to this as it will dilute the influence of party dissidents in the powerful CEC.
The next CEC meeting has been tentatively scheduled for June 28 but the notice of the meeting has yet to be sent out.
A party spokesperson told malaysiakini that it may be postponed to early July to accommodate the any 'reasonable' request from the rebel group.
The notice of the meeting is expected to be sent out when Wong returns from Kuala Lumpur next week.
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