The Tajem-Salang faction in crisis-torn Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) is expected to propose a compromise formula when they meet Chief Minister and state Barisan Nasional chairperson Abdul Taib Mahmud in Kuching on Tuesday.

Malaysiakini understands that newly-elected PBDS president Daniel Tajem will lead the delegation of his top party leaders to the meeting with Taib and brief him on their version of developments that have led to the party crisis.

Their rival faction has elected former information chief Dr James Masing, who is a senior state cabinet minister, in a separate triennial delegates conference held in Bintulu on July 24, two days ahead of Tajem's TDC in Santubong.

The Registrar of Societies (ROS) has been asked to investigate by both sides and determine which group is the legitimate body.

And the party, although a member of the Barisan Nasional, was kept out of the BN supreme council meeting in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. Prime Minister and BN chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the BN would only decide on what action to take after the ROS had made its decision.

Separate issues

Malaysiakini understands that the determination of the legal status of the party leadership aside, top BN leadership also want to find out whether both sides are willing to sit down and compromise.

Any hardened position on any group is likely to see the two factions coming together again, and this may have a bearing of any consideration of the legal status of the party leadership, although several quarters argue these should be two separate issues and should not be linked.

A senior leader who asked not to be identified in the Masing-Sng camp told malaysiakini that one possibility could be to resuscitate the so-called Miri Formula which in effect is a leadership succession plan with Tajem as president and Masing as deputy president, with some variations, to take into account the present position of Joseph Salang, the deputy president elected by the Tajem group.

A new formula could involve amending the party's constitution to provide for a second deputy president's post or the creation of a senior vice president.

Salang told malaysiakini today that there was a resolution proposed and adopted at the recent TDC in Santubong giving the supreme council of the party the right to call for an extra-ordinary general meeting (EGM) to make certain changes to the constitution, if this becomes necessary, in order to accommodate the Masing-Sng faction in a new leadership line-up without compromising their present positions.

Personal differences

Most observers agree that any resolution to the party's resolution now requires no less than an intervention of the top BN leadership at both state and federal levels.

"There are great personal differences, and Dr Mahathir, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Taib are probably the only people who could put into effect any compromise formula in which there has to be give-and-take," according to one observer.

According to some sources, Taib will probably listen to what Tajem and his group have to say, then maybe offer some advice, and relay their ideas to the Masing group to gauge their reaction.

It can be expected that his main task is basically to ensure that when parliamentary elections come, the BN remains just as intact without the kind of troubles that now persist in the component party concerned.

Meanwhile, both factions today described yesterday's BN supreme council's decision to wait until after the ROS' decision on the disputed party leadership to take any action as "fair and reasonable" under the present circumstances.

Salang and Sng Chee Hua, the rival deputy president, told malaysiakini that PBDS membership in BN is not in dispute, only the legality of leadership claims.