The Malaysian Dayak Congress (MDC) pro tem committee is continuing with its relentless efforts to pursue their application for registration with the Registrar of Societies (ROS).

Yesterday, its pro tem president Nicholas Bawin, accompanied by several of his committee members, including pro tem deputy president Dr Johnical Rayong and information chief Joseph Tawie, met with the newly-appointed ROS Haji Wahid Don for 20 minutes at his office in Putra Jaya.

According to Tawie, the delegation members were all given the opportunity to speak after which Wahid asked them to be patient and that he would inform them of the outcome in due course.

The Dayak group, made up of former members or supporters of the de-registered Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS), has been writing numerous letters to a number of people, including Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

They had also held several meetings with the former ROS Kaswai Keman on the matter.

"From the body language we are quite hopeful," Tawie told malaysiakini how he and his group felt after meeting Wahid yesterday.

The MDC claims it has strong support on the ground, especially in Iban areas where there are problems not only on land issues such as native customary rights land affected by logging and plantation activities but also the unpopularity of some long-serving Barisan Nasional candidates.

Opposition alliance

The party made up largely of Ibans is banking on local sentiments to beat the BN candidates in a number of seats, especially those in the Sri Aman division. It is, however, no match in terms of financial and other resources compared with the BN.

At least Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), an off-shoot of PBDS, has objected to the party being registered, claiming that it will further split the Dayak, especially Ibans who represent the single largest racial group in Sarawak.

If registered, MDC will form part of the Bumiputera-based opposition alliance that includes the Sarawak National Party (Snap), Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and will work closely with DAP, State Reform Party (Star) and PAS.

The opposition grouping has broadly agreed not to face each other when they take on the BN.

The state elections which must be held before November 18 will see 71 seats, up by nine from the present number, up for grabs. In the last state elections, the BN won all but one of the 62 seats in the state legislative assembly.