Controversial Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Office Larry Sng can kiss goodbye to his dream of defending the Pelagus seat in the upcoming state elections.

azlan Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president James Masing, deputy president Joseph Entulu, vice-president Joseph Salang Gandum and secretary-general Wilfred Nissom met Prime Minister and Barisan Nasional chairperson Najib Abdul Razak in Putrajaya yesterday afternoon to explain why they did not want Sng to defend the seat for the third time.

“I have been smiling since yesterday and the whole of today,” Masing said last night when asked what was Najib’s response when they explained Sng’s position.

“We have been very clear that we don’t want Sng to defend Pelagus again for the Barisan Nasional,” the Sarawak Land Development Minister said.

Sng first won the seat in 2001 at the tender age of 21 years and successfully defended it in the 2006 elections.

He was appointed assistant minister in 2002.

He was sacked from PRS for his part in arranging a separate annual general meeting from the one organised by Masing in 2008.

Sng’s AGM elected him as party president.

‘A permanent divorce’

Meanwhile, the Women’s section of PRS strongly objected to the allegedly “arrogant” Sng from defending the Pelagus again.

Its chief, Doris Brodie, said the door for Sng to contest had been slammed shut  and should continue to remain that way.

“Our stand on Sng is that it is not just a marriage beyond reconciliation but a permanent divorce, without a tinge of love left, so to speak.”

She claimed that the PRS leadership, members and people of Pelagus, which comprise 83 percent Dayak, 14 percent Chinese and three percent Malay, had treated Sng very fairly until he decided to rock the boat in 2006.

According to her, even during the party’s triennial delegate conference (TDC) in 2006, Masing appointed him as information chief although the delegates disagreed.

Sng, however, never responded to that appointment.

“Our door is closed and tightly shut for him now. He has been too arrogant to challenge for the presidency in spite of the fairness and support we had extended to him. We cannot take it (situation) any more,” she said in a statement.

“PRS has made its stance on Sng very clear. However, if any of the other component BN parties finds him useful and wants to ‘marry’ him, it has our blessings,” she added.

Meanwhile, a group of tuai rumah (village headmen)  from Pelagus had declared their support for Sng to continue to contest in Pelagus.

The group’s leader, Rabar Nasat, said they agreed with Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud that Sng was useful to the government and loyal to the BN.

Rabar hit out at some  PRS leaders for being emotional when talking about Pelagus without talking about the interests of  the local people.

“Why should he be replaced, and we be made to gamble our fortune over the next five years? It is only sensible that we keep the good durian tree to ensure a good harvest,” he added.