Comment SEVERAL months ago, a senior leader of a Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) faction was so confident that the party would NOT be deregistered.

"No way! That will never happen to PRS," he confidently told me when I asked him for an update on the party and the latest saga involving the Registrar of Societies (ROS).

That was several months ago. The adage that 'a week in politics is a long time' certainly holds water for PRS.

No, I did not request from that particular PRS leader (whom I would call a friend) for an update on the party in recent days. I didn't want to bother him as I believe he must be bogged down with party problems and probably sick and tired of the protracted power tussle.

Personally, I am also fed up of this never-ending twists and turns of the PRS saga. I have concluded long ago that some Sarawak politicians are particularly quarrelsome people and they have the stamina, shamefully, to go long haul. See how many years the PBDS internal strife lasted? Now, it's PRS. This can really be embarrassing to other parties not involved, particularly their partners in the Barisan Nasional coalition.

ROS calling for a meeting?

On top of it all, the PRS saga is none of my business! So I never bothered to request an update from my friend again.

This week, however, I was drawn to a Borneo Post report alluding to the possibility that PRS could be deregistered is looming larger with no hope for reconciliation between the two warring factions in the party.

The paper said that the ROS could soon call the leaders of both factions - Dr James Masing and Larry Sng - to a meeting that could very well decide the fate of the party.

If both factions can sit down together and agree to make peace, the ROS would not have to let the axe fall, but the two factions now seem to agree that reconciliation is impossible.

Both Dublin Unting, a party vice-president from the Masing group and Larry Sng had conceded that the warring factions in the party have gone beyond the 'sit down and talk' part. It's not that they did not try. They did but both sides set conditions impossible for each other to accept, including one that Masing must be expelled from the party.

So what now?

I think the ROS has also been very generous with political parties, particularly those from the ruling coalition. Look at SNAP and PBDS. The ROS gave them time, a lot of it, for the factions in the party to resolve their differences. But they did not. SNAP was deregistered and SPDP was formed. Now, some die-hard SNAP members are still fighting a long drawn court battle against its deregistration.

In the case of PBDS, the party was even 'resurrected' by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi himself in his capacity as the Internal Security Minister just before the 2004 general election. Even then, they continued on bickering until even the prime minister got fed up - and PBDS was deregistered permanently.

In the case of PRS today, I think Unting stated the obvious in his interview with the Borneo Post.

'No way to avoid deregistration'

The assistant minister agreed that only reconciliation would ensure that PRS would not be deregistered.

"If you look at the law, a party cannot have two supreme councils or two presidents and there is no way to avoid deregistration," Unting said. Wise words indeed from the PRS veep!

I am sure the Sng faction is also aware that the end is near at hand. Larry's recent overtures to SPDP is possibly a sign that he knows time is running out.

Writing about the PBDS problems in this column in August 2004, I noted that both sides (the Daniel Tajem and the Masing groups then) earnestly believe that they are the better group to lead the party and the community. This is what we call "ego" - it is stating the point, "I am better than you, so let me lead."

"The two camps had reached a point of no return. It is too late for them to sit down and talk. The scars are too deep and the wounds are difficult, if not impossible, to heal."

Today, the same is true for PRS. I doubt Larry has any personal problem with anyone in the Masing camp. But the truth is, the young assistant minister is at the helm of PRS today to fill in his father's shoes. Veteran Sng Chee Hua, originally the PRS deputy president, first clashed with Masing. There is a general consensus that as long as the senior Sng still wants to play an active role in politics and in PRS, any reconciliation with Masing would be impossible. Their differences could possibly go beyond professional, some said.

So it is now left to the ROS to decide on the future of the party. The sooner it does so, the better for all.

I think it is legally wrong for the ROS to allow the stalemate in PRS to continue. The Registrar must ensure that all concerned follow the rules governing societies and if it feels that any party has overstepped the boundaries, then action must be taken.

If the ROS does not take action against the erring party, then it is also guilty of wrongdoing. By now, it is probably aware that the two PRS camps are not going to reconcile. Thus, it is allowing two presidents and two supreme councils to operate a political party that is actually 'illegal' and hence, against the law. By not acting against it, the ROS is also committing an offence. Any citizen can lawfully challenge the ROS' inaction in court and it should count its lucky star that no one did, so far.

Happy ending?

I wish to see a happy scenario like this in the end. PRS will eventually be deregistered. But before that, the two camps will either voluntarily or be 'directed' to join forces with SPDP in a face-saving gesture.

Once SPDP is strong enough and has enough clout, it may even attract the present SNAP remnants, who are possibly tired of its futile court battle, into its fold. Also, those out in the cold as a result of the deregistration of PBDS in 2005 (and who had proposed the unsuccessful launch of the MDC) could also find a home in SPDP.

SPDP president William Mawan may not look like the top notched Dayak leader in Sarawak but he could possibly be the one who could finally plugged all the holes that have been draining the time and efforts of leaders of his community.

Hey, Sarawak could yet see the rebirth of SNAPeven if it takes one big circle for the community to return to its original home. Apai SNAP Stephen Kalong Ningkan could be praying for that from wherever he is now.

PAUL SIR is a columnist with The Borneo Post . This article was published in the paper today and is reproduced here with permission.