Nine Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) elected representatives, 11 of its supreme council members and leaders claiming to come from 172 branches aligned to the Masing-Sng faction have pledged 'undivided support and loyalty' to Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud.

Taib received a copy of the resolution from faction leader and presidential aspirant Dr James Masing during lunch in Kapit today after officiating at a ground-breaking ceremony for the Nanga Meluku-Nanga Gat road.

Also present during lunch at the dewan suarah (community hall) in Kapit were Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu, several other state ministers, including Dr Masing, several assistant ministers and community leaders from various parts of Kapit Division.

The pledge of individed loyalty to Taib has come at a crucial time when the Masing-Sng faction is seen as fighting what they themselves have already acknowledged as an uphill battle for control of the party leadership in the coming party election on July 26-27.

Pre-emptive move

According to some observers, on the surface the resolution is being interpreted as a pre-emptive move, just in case the victorious team, which is likely to come from the Tajem-Salang faction, will want to make requests for the party's representatives in the state cabinet to be replaced.

In his speech to about 1000 people after the ground-breaking ceremony, Taib, who is also the state Barisan Nasional chairperson, gave some hints of his tacit support for the Masing-Sng faction when he said that he "will only co-operate with those who can work with the Barisan Nasional."

He was, however, quick to add that it was not his habit to interfere in the internal affairs of another party.

With doubts that Masing-Sng faction will be able to get his own list of branches to go and attend the TDC and vote and his rival Daniel Tajem and his team already appearing certain to win easily all the elected posts, Masing is now counting on garnering grassroots support for what some political observers say may be fighting for his own political survival.

Since the state election are only two to three years away, as long as Taib wants them, they will remain as members of his cabinet. Within this period the Masing-Sng faction can decide on their long-term plans - either to remain and hope for some form of reconciliation or to pull out and form their own party or even join some of the existing parties within the state BN.

If this were to happen, it would only weaken PBDS. Of the party's 14 elected representatives, nine are on the Masing-Sng side comprising six state assemblypersons and three members of parliament.

Strong federal links

Although the Tajem-Salang side has only five elected representatives, they comprise some of the more influential party leaders, including Leo Moggie, who has just resigned as president but remains as a senior member of the Federal Cabinet, the millionaire Iban businessman and Julau member of parliament Joseph Salang, and the Belaga state assemblyperson Stanley Ajang, whose company is linked directly to the construction of the multi-billion-ringgit Bakun hydro-dam project.

The group is also said to have strong links with the top Barisan Nasional leadership in Kuala Lumpur.

Some political observers are also surprised with the contents of the resolution pledging undivided support and loyalty to Taib at time like this. One PBDS leader who asked not to be identified said the resolution might imply that the Chief Minister is also drumming for support for himself.

"Whatever the reasons, it is subject to various interpretations," he added.

He was confident, however, that if the Tajem-Salang faction win the party elections there would be little difficulty in getting the Barisan Nasional top leadership, especially at the federal level, to recognise the realities of the situation.

He added that he hoped the Chief Minister would also listen to the voice of the new party leadership.

Meanwhile, Masing told reporters at a dinner gathering in Kapit attended by branch leaders from throughout Sarawak that there would be no political gathering as planned for today (Saturday).

"I will be visiting a few more places in Sarawak," he told reporters. "Only after that will we decide on our next course of action."

This time, however, he is playing the cards close to the chest, telling reporters to wait. In the past one week, he has repeatedly denied any plan to form a rival supreme council or to hold an extraordinary general meeting or to hold their own triennial delegates conference.

Picket by Forestry staff

Meanwhile, in an unrelated matter, when he arrived in Kapit this morning, Taib was confronted by a picket of some 50 placard-carrying members of the Sarawak Forestry Employees Union (SFEU) who, according to their spokesmen, have been unhappy at the way they are being treated in the corporatisation of the Forestry Department.

Its secretary Mohd Ali Yakub told malaysiakini by phone from Kapit that the picket - the 12th being held so far - was originally planned for Sibu.

Why Kapit on the date of CM's arrival? "We believe he is the only person who can resolve our grievances," he said, adding that picketing will go on until "all outstanding matters have been resolved to our satisfaction."

He added that although they had met many VIPs, it had all come to nought.

"We are not against privatisation or corporatisation but at the slowness or delay in attending to our concerns and grievances," Mohd Ali said.