The repeatedly on-off proposed merger between the Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) and the Parti Rakyat Sabah (PRS) may be unofficially on again, after being written off hardly two weeks ago.

This follows casual talks during the Gawai Dayak (Dayak Harvest Festival) gathering last weekend at PRS president James Jemut Masing's house in Kuching.

Guests at the function were reportedly pleasantly surprised when four of the SPDP's ‘Gang of Five' turned up unexpectedly at Masing's house, going into private huddled discussions for some time.

james jemut masing and william mawan and sarawak Bekenu state assemblyperson Rosey Yunus, who was the only rebel not present, was said to be visiting his constituency.

SPDP members in Bekenu, along with those in Lambir and Piasu, have previously protested against the proposed merger with PRS.

The Gang of Five's other members are MP Tiki Lafe (Mas Gading) and state assemblypersons Peter Nansian (Tasik Biru), Sylvester Entri Muran (Marudi) and Paulus Palu Gumbang (Danau).

Meluan state assemblyperson Wong Judat is also said to have "unofficially" joined the five rebels.

Tiki, when cornered at a National Service passing out parade in Kuching on Sunday, was mum on the details of the meeting with Masing.

"It's not necessary at this stage for us to go public with our discussion," said Tiki before refusing further questions.

He denied that he had boycotted a similar function held at SPDP president William Mawan Ikom's ( right in above photo ) house on Jun 1, saying he was not able to attend the function due to a prior appointment at the National Heart Institute in Kuala Lumpur on the same day.

Signs of crisis?

The initial reading is that the presence of the four with state land development minister Masing, is the clearest indication that they have not reconciled with Mawan.

Despite denials, the five rebels appear to be still upset with the replacement of Sylvester by Ba'Kelalan state assemblyperson Nelson Balang Rining as SPDP secretary-general on Jan 23.

Rebel chief and state assistant minister for environment, Nansian, had denied that his party was "still wracked by an internal crisis" earlier this week.

But he could not explain "how the bitter differences with Mawan had been resolved".

Meanwhile, Nansian has been publicly postulating that he has been forced to take the lead on the merger on behalf of SPDP, alleging that his party president and deputy, Peter Nyarok Entrie had his hands tied.

NONE The five rebels reportedly see an SPDP-PRS merger as the only honourable way out of the current impasse. They are also concerned that the situation at the grassroots is turning sour for them in the wake of the Sibu by-election on May 16 ( right ).

"The four visitors were joking with Masing as if they were in the same party," said a senior SPDP leader who was privy to the discussions.

"But they had some serious news to bring up with Masing."

According to meeting details made available by the SPDP source, the fear is that the continuing internal crisis is likely to take a toll on the BN at the forthcoming state elections.

Two-thirds majority at stake

The SPDP rebel chiefs' preliminary assessments suggest that BN only has a 50 - 50 chance of retaining all the four rebel state seats along with Belaga (Liwan Lagang of PRS), Telang Usan (Lihan Jok of PBB) and Ba'Kelalan, with the last two particularly at risk.

The overall scenario is that BN stands to lose 20 to 24 seats at the next state elections, according to the discussion at Masing's house.

One plausible emerging scenario is BN losing 10 Chinese seats, two to four Iban seats, one to three Malay seats, two to four Bidayuh seats and one to three Orang Ulu seats.

share of popular votes in seats contests sarawak 240506 The Sarawak state assembly has 71 seats so the loss of 24 seats would mean a loss of BN's coveted two-thirds majority in the state assembly.

Meanwhile, opposing voices mainly in SPDP are allegedly against the proposed merger, figures allegedly linked to Treasurer-General and Bintulu MP Tiong King Sing .

SPDP Piasau Youth chief James Joshua disclosed that his branch is unanimously against the rebels' intrepid move for merger.

"Any merger process should be undertaken by the committee at the party headquarters headed by the president and deputy president,' Joshua said.

He advised the five rebel chiefs to focus instead on bringing development to their respective constituencies.

‘Stop internal quarrels'

Likewise, SPDP Niah branch chairman Napi Madang thinks that the five rebel chief should stop their endless politicking.

"We should halt this quarrelling among ourselves," said Napi, referring to the rebels' issues with the party chief.

"Give priority to issues that concern the people."

Mawan himself does not see the rebels' actions as problematic to the party or any indication of a crisis.

"They are doing this entirely on their own initiative, and it's their right to do so," he said.

"We can't say that they are doing something wrong."

But his deputy, Nyarok, disagrees. He feels that only the joint merger committee of SPDP-PRS was authorised to speak or negotiate on matters relating to the merger.

"Those refusing to comply with this procedure are deemed to be acting on their own accord and SPDP does not recognise their action," he said, slamming the rebels' efforts to unilaterally speed up the process.