The Registrar of Societies (ROS) held back the delivery of letters to crisis-plagued Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) leaders this afternoon on last-minute instructions from its headquarters in Purajaya due to 'technical errors.'

The papers were to convey the ROS' decision to the two factions in the party after investigations into their complaints had been completed.

State ROS director James Ho told reporters in his office that a chief inspector from ROS Putrajaya had actually brought in the letters earlier in the day to be delivered personally to PRS president Dr James Masing and secretary-general Sidi Munan.

But at the last minute, he was advised by Putrajaya not to deliver the letters because of what he called 'technical errors.'

According to him, the letters would probably be delivered within the next few days after the 'technicalities' had been sorted out.

Present at the brief meeting with the press were Masing, who heads a faction that has been at loggerheads with the faction led by his deputy Sng Chee Hua, as well as several members aligned to the Sng faction.

The ROS director said he was informed by ROS headquarters late yesterday afternoon to get in touch with Masing and Sidi Munan to request them to come to the ROS office this afternoon to collect the letters.

How the quarrel evolves

The Sng faction had lodged a complaint to the ROS after Masing sacked six principal office-bearers of the party, including Sidi Munan, and appointed mostly his supporters in their place.

According to the Sng faction, the party president did not follow the party constitution as he had failed to give the principal office-bearers show-cause letters as required under the constitution.

The Masing faction in turn lodged a complaint to the ROS, first over the holding of the June 14 supreme council meeting on June 14 chaired by Sng, which, among other things, censured Masing as president. It also fixed a date for an extraordinary delegates conference (EDC) to elect a new president.

There has been much speculation as to the contents of the letters.

One school of thought is that the ROS is giving the party a show-cause letter on why it should not be de-registered and giving it the right to appeal against such a decision.

Another is that the ROS may have ruled against Masing's action in sacking the principal office-bearers.

Meanwhile, the Sng-led faction held an emergency supreme council meeting last night. The meeting is understood to have discussed the date, time and place for the triennial delegates conference (TDC) to elect new party leaders.

With the latest development, it would appear that there is nothing to stop the EDC on Saturday which is expected to be attended by about 500 delegates and observers from most of the registered divisions.

The main purpose of th EDC is to elect a new president following the censure of Masing. PRS vice-president Jimmy Donald, who is also Sri Aman MP, has been proposed as president.