It's now confirmed! Supporters of Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) faction leader Dr James Masing has submitted an application for a new political party.

This was confirmed to malaysiakini today by Ernest Chua, a Kuching lawyer and the protem information chief of the proposed Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS).

The application was submitted about two weeks ago to the Registrar of Societies (ROS) in Putrajaya, as reported by malaysiakini then.

According to Chua, the protem chairperson is Sidi Munan, a retired civil servant and a former supreme council member of PBDS.

A well-known private medical practitioner Dr Ong Lark Sai is deputy chairman.

A New Zealand-trained agriculturalist-turned-businessman Henry Upang, a Kayan, is protem secretary-general.

Kuching lawyer Clement Eddy and businessman Ben Sng Chee Beng are the protem treasurer-general and deputy treasurer-general respectively.

Others included Joseph Maut and George Lagong.

Sng's supporters

Most if not all the pro tem committee members are closely identified with Sng Chee Hua, a businessman-cum-politician who has been No 2 to Masing in their faction line-up.

According to a local newspaper report, the ROS confirmed that he had received the application. It is not, however, known whether approval has been given.

The timing of the announcement has taken a lot of people by surprise, especially when the ROS has not yet made any decision regarding the status of PBDS which has been given a show-cause letter connected with the party's last triennial delegates conference (TDC) in July.

The party replied to the show-cause letter on Nov 4 on the ROS' query on the status of delegates from 29 out of 153 branches that sent delegates to the July 26-27 TDC in Santubong, Kuching.

The ROS had ruled the earlier TDC in Bintulu of the Masing-Sng faction as 'not in accordance with the party constitution' and therefore invalid.

Polticial analysts say the formation of a new political appears inevitable as both factions have indicated their lack of confidence in recent weeks in the prospects of any reconciliation .

No turning back

Sidi Munan even admitted to malaysiakini that "it is difficult to work together now."

This implied that the Masing-Sng faction would go ahead and form their own political party irrespective of the decision of the ROS on PBDS.

PBDS president Daniel Tajem told malaysiakini last week that the party had given a detailed reply to the ROS' query and that they were now leaving it to the ROS.

Although Dr Masing, a state minister, was reported in local newspapers today as saying that he would still remain in PBDS, he has not shut himself out from the option of joining a new political party.

But most political observers see that if and when the new party is registered and becomes a fait accompli , it is difficult for Dr Masing not to identify himself with it unless top BN leaders intervene to try and prevent a further fragmentation of political parties in Sarawak.