Registrar of Societies Ismail Mohd Dollah has yet to make a decision on the constitutionality issue involving two rival factions in the crisis-ridden Sarawak National Party (Snap).

The ROS was supposed to have made his decision on the matter by yesterday.

However, Ismail said he was still consulting legal advisors after receiving reports Monday from both factions on a series of crucial meetings held separately.

The meetings have led the party to have two presidents and two sets of central executive committee members.

The ROS has to decide who is the legitimate president incumbent James Wong Kim Min (photo) elected in the 2000 party election or William Mawan who was elected president by his faction last month.

Apart from this, the ROS must also decide which CEC is legitimate.

When the media called on the ROS this morning, he said a decision has yet to be made as he is still in the process of consulting the legal advisors who have been studying the reports and the party constitution.

A recent Chinese newspaper report had said that if the ROS was dissatisfied with the explanations from the respective factions, he may suspend the party and set a date for an election to be held.

Should they fail to heed this, he may de-register the party.

Seek a compromise

Meanwhile, Wong's faction is planing to hold their triennial delegates conference in February while Mawan (photo) and his men may hold theirs as early as next month in order to elect a new set of leaders.

The Mawan faction, which includes all but one of the party's nine elected representatives, has been moving throughout the state in preparation for the meet.

Wong's faction, however, has been less visible.

Political analysts said that without the ROS' intervention, Snap may end up being a party with two presidents, two sets of committees, two different administrations and two headquarters.

With the parliamentary elections around the corner, both Snap and Barisan Nasional leaders are hoping that the crisis is resolved soon.

One possible solution, said the analysts, was for Wong to step down and seek a compromise with Mawan's group so that some of his men can be accommodated in the new set-up.

At the moment, there are no signs that Wong and his supporters would do that. It appears that only the ROS can solve the crisis that sparked off in April following Wong's decision to sack treasurer-general and member of parliament Tiong King Sing.

'Overwhelming response'

In a related development, Wong's faction has rescheduled their divisional leaders dialogue originally fixed for Sept 1 to the end of this month.

According to secretary-general Justine Jinggut, the party was unable to proceed with the dialogue that was to be held at the Kuching Santubong Resort in Damai due to an "overwhelming response".

"We had requested each of the 62 divisions to send five delegates but instead received at least 20 from each division," he said.

Since many of the rooms at the hotel have been booked by tourists, the party was forced to postpone the dialogue session for three weeks.

"It will now be held most likely at the end of September and we will accommodate the request from all divisions," he added.

The dialogue is part of the faction's move to explain to members their side of the story regarding the on-going dispute and to seek support for the embattled Wong.

TONY THIEN is a malaysiakini correspondent based in Kuching, Sarawak.