The Sarawak National Party's (Snap) rebel group, led by vice-president and state minister of environment and public health William Mawan (photo), is planning to register a new party in the event that Snap is de-registered next month.

That is one of the options being mulled by key rebel leaders should they feel that they could do better on their own instead of joining other parties.

Malaysiakini understands from reliable sources that one name that has been suggested for the new party is Sarawak National Progressive Party (SNPP).

Mawan has mentioned in recent weeks about the possibility of forming a new party if the Registrar of Societies (ROS) can be persuaded from not going ahead to cancel the registration of Snap a member of the four-party state ruling Barisan Nasional.

Most Snap members aligned to both of the feuding factions have more or less resigned to the likelihood of the party being deleted from the ROS' files after Oct 13 when the registrar finally decides on the matter.

Separate CEC meetings

But embattled Snap president, 80-year-old James Wong Kim Min remained, as always, optimistic when he met reporters after chairing his central executive committee (CEC) meeting at Snap headquarters during the weekend.

Mawan, elected by his own group earlier as 'president' of Snap, was also chairing a separate CEC meeting at the same time at Batu Kawa's new township of MJC City, about three kilometres away.

The rebel leader not only ruled out any meetings with Wong but also the possibility of a reconciliation, effectively killing all hopes of a last-minute deal that might be able to save Snap from the ROS' axe.

He now said the only solution is for Wong to accept the majority's decision, otherwise there would be no deal.

Wong is, however, unlikely to agree to such a humiliating capitulation.

No mood for compromise

During the press conference, Wong (photo), who looked worn and tired from a knee-cap operation in April as well as the bruising quarrels within Snap, indicated he had agreed to one of the conditions put forward by the Mawan group not to re-contest in the party's polls scheduled in February next year "unless I am forced to do so".

Howver, Mawan and his supporters are no longer in the mood to compromise. Thrice, according to Wong, he and Mawan were supposed to meet in Kuala Lumpur, and thrice Mawan failed to show up.

One source quoted Mawan as saying, "There is not much point in meetings...He [Wong] does not stick to what he has agreed."

Wong, on the other hand, has also been privately quoted as saying, "I find it difficult to trust the [rebel] group."

This explains why despite the best endeavours and advice from some top BN leaders, the two factions have not been able to come to a common ground to discuss things over.

Wong's gesture during his CEC meeting to lift the suspension on Snap deputy president Peter Tinggom, who is the member of parliament for Saratok, and vice-president and youth leader Dr Judson Sakai Tagal, who is also assistant minister of infrastructure development and communications, has also been rejected.

The besieged party leader did not mention anything about the controversial member of parliament for Bintulu Tiong King Sing, whose sacking from the party in April sparked the party crisis.

It is unlikely that the Mawan group, even if they agree to talk, would leave the Tiong issue out. Wong has said publicly and privately he would not take Tiong back.

"It looks like there is a lot of bad blood between the two [Wong and Tiong]," one party member said.

Point of no return

Nevertheless, both Wong and Mawan, after saying earlier that there was nothing to add to what they had already told the ROS in their lengthy written explanation, are now saying they will be replying to the ROS' show-cause letter.

"The president has replied briefly after he received the ROS letter recently, saying he had nothing more to add to their own explanation," Snap deputy secretary-general Edmund Stanley Jugol said.

"[However,] we have now decided to reply again, emphasising on the important points raised in our comprehensive explanation." He did not elaborate.

Malaysiakini understands that if the ROS' reply remains unfavourable, Wong and his group will consider another recourse, including the possibility of legal action.

The Mawan group, meanwhile, is understood to have prepared for the worst if the party is de-registered.

"Months ago, they were already looking at the draft of a new party constitution and worse come to the worst, will apply to register their own party," said a party source.

Most political observers agree that the two factions have reached a point of no return. For Mawan and those elected representatives in his group, the question is whether to apply to join other parties or to form a political party of their own.

Last week, in his initial comments to the ROS' letter, Sarawak Chief Minister and State BN chief Abdul Taib Mahmud said he would probably allow the rebels to be "parked temporarily" in other BN parties.