Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) has more than 400 registered branches representing the main body, its youth and women sections. Each will now have to hold an annual general meeting, and elect new office-bearers before the triennial delegates conference (TDC) later this year.

With the Home Ministry having set fresh elections as a condition of reinstating the deregistered party, PBDS will have to set the process in motion. It will begin with the branch meetings to be held across the length and breadth of Sarawak, the largest state in Malaysia.

The TDC will elect the president and deputy president and other members of the new supreme council for a three-year term, in the hope that this will resolve the long-running leadership dispute.

Rivers and mountains are just some of the initial obstacles that must be overcome, leading to anticipated "practical problems" in managing the task quickly and smoothly.

The party has branches from Lundu at the southern tip of Sarawak to Be'kalalan in Lawas in the north, bordering Brunei.

In Sarawak, this means travelling by road, boat and even on foot over jungle tracks to get to the more remote places where branch meetings are held.

"The whole process will take some time if you want to do it properly and to be fair to all," said a party official.

Different process

This time, there will be some changes to the election process.

PBDS will still go through the various procedures, including making sure that only branches registered with the Registrar of Societies (ROS) and only properly-elected office-bearers are in place.

The branch meetings will have to approve the minutes of the previous year's AGM and financial statement, decide on the delegates who should attend and vote at the TDC, as well as the nomination process of candidates.

However, the ROS and neutral observers representing Barisan Nasional will, as agreed by all, supervise the conduct of the election to ensure it is fair to all.

PBDS president Daniel Tajem and his supreme council (elected prior to July 23, 2003 ) have demanded that the Anti-Corruption Agency be present to watch over the entire electoral process up to TDC-level "to ensure that money politics do not come into play".

The ROS has rejected a suggestion fromJames Masing's ( photo ) faction that the TDC delegates list of 2000 be used for the upcoming elections. The ROS insisted at a recent meeting in Kuching that an up-to-date delegates list should be used.

This will mean that party officials and representatives of the ROS and BN will have to attend branch meetings to see that these are properly conducted.

Branch officials will have to return to their respective home-bases to attend the meetings, as many would have left after the harvesting season to take up temporary jobs elsewhere.

"The best time (for meetings) is when most, if not all, of the officials of rural branches are back home," the party official said.

For logistical convenience and transportation purposes, the party hopes to get branches within the same administrative district or divisions to hold their respective meetings in one location, over a day or two.

"If we have a branch in Usun Apau (a mountainous plateau in Ulu Baram), it would mean a six-hour trek. Alternatively, we would have to hire a helicopter to ferry everyone up there," said another party official.