Claims that as many as 62 Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) branches from Betong, Saratok, Sarikei, Meradong and Sibu have called for party president Leo Moggie to remain in his position have been countered as "highly exaggerated and misleading".

PBDS supreme council member Richard Wil, who is also the party's Miri division chief, said: "The figure is misleading...I think it is incorrect and creates confusion among party members.

"As far as I am concerned, there are no more than 30 branches in those areas," he was quoted as saying in Malaysian Today , a Kuching-based tabloid.

Wil is a critic of the party president and has publicly asked Moggie to step down and make way for other younger leaders to take over.

He faces a growing move within the party to ask Moggie, who is also the minister for Energy, Telecommunications and Multimedia, to stay for at least another term.

However, Moggie has not indicated that he would change his mind about stepping down at the forthcoming triennial delegates conference (TDC).

The pro-Moggie faction initiated a special assembly of what they described as 62 duly accredited party branches in Saratok a few days ago.

A press statement issued at the end of the meeting said that should Moggie decide not to stay o­n, they would support deputy president Daniel Tajem for president and party treasurer-general and member of Parliament for Julau, Joseph Sallang Gandum for deputy president.

Only 29 branches

Infuriated by the claims, Will was quoted as saying that as far as the party was concerned, most of the branches in the areas concerned had already held their annual general meetings.

According to him, there are o­nly 10 branches in Betong, nine in Saratok and less than 10 in Sibu, Sarikei and Meradong.

Wil also called o­n those responsible for making the claims "to be honest in disclosing the number of branches that they said were supporting the move for Moggie to stay o­n".

"Reveal the names of the branches concerned...and don't merely count birds in the bushes," he said, adding that the pro-Moggie group should not mislead the president into thinking he had the support of many branches to stay o­n as president.

"I think this is all the work of a certain group of people who want to confuse party members in a bid to persuade Moggie to reconsider his decision and stay o­n.

"I believe the group is trying to give the impression that the president has the support of a large number of branches."

Wil is a supporter of the other faction that wants information chief and state minister of social development and urbanisation Dr James Jemut Masing as president and vice-president Sng Chee Hua as deputy president.

Growing alliance

A report in Malaysian Today which is owned by a group controlled by Sng claimed today that support for the Masing-Sng alliance is growing, with 11 more branches o­n the bandwagon, bringing the total number to 121 out of the 206 branches they say are registered with the party.

The other faction claimed there are 268 branches altogether.

Meanwhile, Masing, in response to a reporter's question, said after officiating at a function in Kuching this morning that he would not be able to attend the party's supreme council meeting scheduled o­n March 15 in Marudi in northern Sarawak.

"Unfortunately, I shall be going overseas to perform my ministerial duties o­n that date," he said.

It is generally expected that Masing's supporters, most of whom are in the supreme council, will also not attend the meeting which is expected to decide o­n the date of the party's triennial delegates conference.