Leaders of Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), the youngest member of Sarawak's four-member ruling coalition, are anxiously awaiting words from the Registrar of Societies (ROS) on the fate of the party.

"We expect to hear from the ROS within the next few days," the party's executive secretary Roxanna Ong aligned to deputy president Sng Chee Hua-led faction told malaysiakini today.

The Sng faction, however, has sounded positive that the ROS' decision will not lead to the same fate as suffered by its 'parent' Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) which was de-registered for the second and last time two years ago after a prolonged leadership crisis.

They complained to the ROS immediately after PRS president Dr James Masing sacked six of the party's principal office-bearers on May 26, without giving any show-cause letter. The Sng faction claimed this was unconstitutional and ultra vires the party constitution and a denial of natural justice.

Masing, who is also state Land Development Minister, replaced most of those he sacked with his own men in order to secure his position in the 34-member supreme council.

No letter sent yet

On talk that the ROS would respond to the complaint within the next few days, the state ROS director James Ho was quoted in local newspapers as saying that he had not sent out any letter.

He added that he did not know when the reply would be sent out.

Sng's supreme council meeting on June 14 censured Masing as president, asking him to relinquish his position as president, on the ground that he had acted against Barisan Nasional interests in the recent state election.

Masing has also been barred from standing as a candidate for president in the September 9 extra-ordinary delegates conference (EDC) to elect a successor to Masing.

The Masing faction, meantime, has refused the recognise the validity ofthe June 14 supreme council meeting and all the decisions it made, including censuring the party president and appointing Sng as acting president pending the EDC.