The Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) and Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) are expected to finalise their merger plan before the next state elections due by October this year.

"The merger is possible before the elections," SPDP assistant secretary-general Paul Igai told malaysiakini.

He was commenting on reports that the merger process is being expedited for political considerations, including preempting moves by a group trying to form a new Dayak-based party - the Malaysian Dayak Congress(MDC).

Chief Minister and state Barisan Nasional chairperson Abdul Taib Mahmud is said to have given his blessings for the merger.

If and when the two parties merge, it will have 15 state assemblypersons and seven members of parliament who are likely to be joined by the other party-less members of parliament, including Deputy Foreign Minister Joseph Salang, Aaron Dagang (Kanowit) and Jawah Gerang (Lubok Antu)- all formerly of the now defunct Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS).

"But in any merger someone has to bow down," said Igai, adding that with enough will on both sides, this will be possible.

The talk is that SPDP president William Mawan, a state minister, will initially be the head of the new party with PRS president Dr James Masing as his deputy while the seats in the central executive committee will be distributed equally among leaders of the two parties.

The two parties proved that a merger was possible when they got together last December to organise a one-day Dayak Economic Forum officiated by Taib.

Why Taib wants it?

Meanwhile, Salang had been quoted as saying that the merger would pave the way for him and two other party-less MPs to join the new political grouping.

Commenting on the merger, a political aide to the chief minister said Taib wanted the merger not only to avoid problems between SPDP and PRS, especially on seat allocation before the election but also to show that he had been supportive of Dayak unity all along, contrary to claims by his detractors in the community.

"Taib will go one step further to ensure that the Dayak community is given the opportunity to participate more actively in the development of native customary rights (NCR) land before he exits the scene," he added.

State BN secretary-general Ambrose Blikau, who is also a state assistant minister, said the process of getting the Dayaks involved in the commercial development of NCR land throughout Sarawak has already started.