No snappy solution to Sarawak party crisis
Until fresh elections can resolve the ongoing crisis within the Sarawak National Party (Snap), the fight is being narrowed to one of gaining recognition from Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders. And it starts with the thorny question of determining the legitimate president of the party.
For the time being, the federal BN leadership appears to have accepted former state minister James Wong Kim Min as the Snap president. He is among the longest-serving politicians in the country.
When the federal BN held a special meeting at Umno headquarters in Kuala Lumpur on July 1 to hear Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's explanation on Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's resignation, Wong was accorded his place as Snap president with secretary-general Justine Jinggut also present.
Snap deputy president Peter Tinggom (made acting president by a national council meeting called by a group opposed to Wong) as well as Snap Youth leader and vice president Dr Judson Sakai Tagal (appointed as acting secretary-general) accompanied by the controversial member of parliament for Bintulu Tiong King Sing also turned up for the meeting. However, they could not get a place and had to wait outside the room.
Top-level briefings
Snap deputy secretary-general Edmund Stanley Juggoh said Wong had received a call on his handphone while chairing a central executive committee (CEC) meeting at the end of last month. It was from federal BN secretary-general Mohamed Rahmat, requesting that Wong attend the meeting in KL.
Stanley told malaysiakini that Wong had briefed Mohamed on the leadership crisis in the party and what he thought was behind this. Wong had also suggested that the best way to resolve the situation was to follow the party constitution and hold a triennial delegates conference.
The Tinggom group, however, has called for an extraordinary general meeting on August 11 to which most of the party's divisions are expected to send delegates, and which could elect new leaders.
Malaysiakini understands that Snap leaders aligned to Wong are now going down to the ground to meet various divisions to urge them not to attend the Aug 11 EGM being called by the president's detractors. They are being told to prepare instead for the triennial general meeting in February.
Stanley said both Wong and Justine have also been invited in their official party capacity to attend the PBB Convention 2002 on Tuesday in Damai, near Kuching. Dr Mahathir is expected to declare the meeting open.
Wong had held a meeting with Dr Mahathir at the RMAF base in Subang when the latter returned last week from a holiday from Naples, Italy. He also met former Deputy Prime Minister Ghaffar Baba, but it is not known what transpired between them.
Not aware of gag order
Malaysiakini had reported that, at a recent state cabinet meeting, Snap representatives vice president and Environment and Public Health Minister William Mawan, Assistant Minister of Infrastructure Development and Communications Dr Judson Sakai Tagal, and Assistant Tourism Minister Peter Nyarok had been asked by Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud not to make further political statements that might reflect badly on their state positions.
Reacting to the report, one of Mawan's aides Paul Igai claimed he was not aware of any gag order when explaining the 'silence' since , saying that the group had met last week and would be releasing a statement on Tuesday.
He added that the group would not comment on what he described as conflicting public statements by the president and his son Richard Wong the party's senior vice president and state assemblyperson for Limbang on the subject of taking the disputes to court.
Call to return to the fold
Meanwhile, the Borneo Post , a local English-language daily, reported today that former Snap MP for Bintulu Ting Ling Kiew, described as a special personal assistant to Wong, has urged the seven elected representatives of Snap to return to the fold.
He said they should bring up their grievances within the CEC and that they should try and refrain from airing these through the media.
"The president welcomes them back to Snap," he said, adding that the issue of the secretary-general Justine Jinggut is a small one that can be easily resolved. The rebel group had asked for his removal, alleging that he was behind problems plaguing the party.
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