Embattled Sarawak National Party (Snap) 'president' James Wong Kim Min is confident that the Registrar of Societies (ROS) will not de-register the party despite the show-cause letter issued to the party recently.

"I've not broken rules. I've followed the party constitution. I've followed all party procedures," he said in a telephone interview from Kuala Lumpur where he has been meeting other Barisan Nasional leaders.

He said the ball is now in the ROS' court to decide on the future of Snap.

The party now has two presidents Wong and William Mawan. Mawan, the state minister of environment and public health, was a vice-president until he was elected by his own faction at an extraordinary general meeting two months ago to replace Wong.

Wong has refused to recognise the election, saying that the only way to determine the leadership issue is through the forthcoming triennial general meeting scheduled in February.

Asked whether he could convince the ROS to let the meeting go through first, he replied: "I don't know. You have to ask [registrar Ismail Dolah Harun]."

As to whether he would stand for the post of president again, he said: "I have said many times the answer is no, unless I am forced to do so." He explained that, unless no one else would want to stand as president, then he has no choice but to carry on in order to save the party.

He refused to say why the BN has not intervened to save a component party from being de-registered or to prevent the internal crisis from escalating in the first place.

Last-minute plea

As the deadline for the ROS' final decision draws near on Oct 13, Wong made a last-minute plea for his opponents to come back and resolve the party's crisis as one big family.

"The door is always open for them to return," he said, adding that he has no quarrel with them. "They are the ones who want to quarrel with me."

On what he would do if the ROS should go ahead and de-register the party, he relied: "I have not thought about it. I don't know."

On moves by his detractors to form a new party, Wong said that in a democracy anyone is free to form any political party.

Meanwhile, Wong has made himself visible in public, especially at BN functions in Sabah and peninsula Malaysia, in his capacity as Snap 'president'. The BN headquarters in Kuala Lumpur is still sending him invitations in his capacity as Snap 'president' to its important functions.

Political observers say Wong is hoping that if he can keep Snap intact or at least stop it from being suspended or de-registered, he will stand a better chance at claiming a stake on the seat allocation for Snap in the coming parliamentary election.

However, when push comes to shove, it is likely that the BN will intervene and the Wong faction will probably get to keep half of the seats allocated to Snap, with the rest going to the Mawan faction. State elections are not due until 2006.

New party

According to local newspaper reports, Wong's rival group is already preparing to get a new party ready in case the ROS goes ahead to de-register Snap.

Talk that is gaining currency is where will the nine elected representatives five state assembly persons and four members of Parliament be parked among the other three component parties Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu Sarawak (PBB), Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP) and Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS).

One speculation is that without a party base they will probably remain as BN individual members without any affiliations pending official consideration of their application for a new party.

TONY THIEN is malaysiakini's correspondent in Sarawak.