Whenever local politics was discussed during the recent Hari Raya open house hosted by politicians in Kuching, it invariably turned to the subject of what has become known as the five partyless elected representatives of the defunct Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS).

The oft-asked question was, and still is, would Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud's Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB) take them all in (as the five want to, after their own party PBDS was de-registered for the second time on Oct 21).

Immediately after the death knell was sounded on the Dayak-based party, nine of the party's 14 elected representatives 'managed' to find a new home in a new party called Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS).

But their rivals, the five elected representatives aligned to the party's former president Daniel Tajem, did not have a new party of their own to turn to nor did they intend to form one. So, it was only natural their erstwhile faction leader Dr James Masing beckoned them to join PRS as well.