Sarawak Chief Minister and Sarawak Barisan Nasional chairperson Abdul Taib Mahmud appeared to be in less of a hurry now than a week ago about 'parking' the party-less elected representatives of Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) with other state BN parties.

He said that he would not rush into deciding on the fate of the 14 representatives of PBDS which was deregistered by the Registrar of Societies (ROS) last week.

His statement was highlighted in the front-page of the Sarawak Tribune today, the day Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi arrived to attend a mammoth Hari Raya Aidilfitri Open House at the Merdeka Padang in the heart of Kuching.

The paper also reported that Taib "chose not to reveal any plans, especially on the arrangement for the group of nine PBDS elected representatives, led by Dr James Masing, who on Monday gave him a written assurance of their willingness to be 'parked' in any of the three BN component parties."

"I'll reveal it some other time, not now," he said.

Calling on PM

Last weekend, Abdul Taib offered the PBDS representatives temporary 'parking' and said that it would be decided soon as to whom should go to which of the three component parties.

At that time, Taib also appeared annoyed when told that five of the PBDS leaders aligned to Daniel Tajem were not keen to take up the 'parking' offer. He had retorted that "they can stand under the sun".

His latest statement appears to be a reverse of the decision taken last week and it is believed this may have been influenced by some new developments privy only to the top BN leadership.

Meanwhile, malaysiakini understands that leaders of the faction led by Daniel Tajem of the deregistered PBDS would be calling on both the King and the prime minister at the open house this evening.

There has been reports that they may hand the appeal letter to Abdullah.