Crises-ridden Sarawak National Party (Snap) rebel leader William Mawan Ikoh ( photo ) said today his faction would seek a court declaration on the legal status of the party's disputed leadership should the Registrar of Societies (ROS) decide on maintaining the status quo.

Speaking to reporters at a government backbenchers meeting today, Mawan, the state minister for environment and public health who was elected as the party's new 'president' by his own faction recently, said he and his group met the ROS on Friday last week to personally hand over their reply to the show-cause letter issued to several top party leaders a month ago.

The ROS has earlier announced that it would make its decision known on Oct 13, but is still keeping mum on the issue.

No reconciliation

Mawan added that the ROS did not make any comments on the issue during the meeting.

His group comprises nine of the party's elected representatives five state assembly representatives and four members of Parliament.

Backed by a majority of the party's divisions, the party rebels have been fighting since April this year to take over the leadership from James Wong Kim Min ( photo ), 80, who has led Snap for more than two decades.

An increasingly isolated Wong, a former state minister, is hoping the Mawan group will come back and attend the party's forthcoming triennial delegates conference scheduled in February.

But Mawan and other party leaders have ruled out any possibility of a reconciliation, indicating that they would not want to work with Wong and his supporters, and that if the ROS were to deregister Snap, they would be ready to form a new party of their own.

Still no decision

Meanwhile, according to a senior official in the ROS office in Kuala Lumpur, the powerful organisation had yet to decide on the status of Snap after sending out show-cause letters to four top party leaders Wong, deputy president Peter Tinggom, Mawan and secretary-general Justine Jinggut requesting them to state why the party should not be deregistered.

After meeting several top BN leaders in Kuala Lumpur, including Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Ahmad Abdullah Badawi, Wong has expressed confidence that the ROS would not rush to deregister Snap or even deregister it at all.

He gave no reason for thinking so.

Snap is now a party with two sets of leaders with their respective administrations.

TONY THIEN is a malaysiakini correspondent based in Kuching.