There are now serious doubts that Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak's (PBDS) triennial delegates conference next month will now take place on schedule with its crucial credentials committee as good as abandoning its work.

Even the party's supreme council meeting, originally planned for next Saturday in Kuching, has been called off without any reason given. It is not known whether the meeting is being re-scheduled to another date.

According to observers, circumstances may now force a postponement of triennial delegates conference (TDC) - scheduled to take place on July 26-27 - if new members have to be appointed to the credentials committee and for it to re-start work all over again.

PBDS president and Minister of Energy, Communications and Multimedia Leo Moggie is still away overseas on official duties, accompanying the King on a state visit. He is only due back on Monday.

The Dayak-based party has been split into two factions, one led by long-time deputy president Daniel Tajem and the other by James Masing (photo) - both vying for the coveted presidential post to be left vacant by outgoing leader Moggie.

Both sides are claiming the support from the majority of branches, with the credentials committee given the power to decide which of the party's 250 branches are 'legal'. This will have great bearing on the outcome of the bitter leadership struggle.

Supreme council decision challenged

The five-member credentials committee, chaired by veteran party leader Dr Jawie Masing, was suddenly called off yesterday after two days of deliberations to lay the ground work in ascertaining the legality of the branches.

According to a local English-language tabloid Malaysian Today, the main issue that bogged down the credentials committee meeting was last month's supreme council decision to allow every eligible branch to send three delegates each, which the pro-Masing faction sees as against the provisions of the party constitution.

According to the report today, Jawie at first concurred with the view of two pro-Masing members - lawyer Clement Eddy and businessman Patrick Sibat - that the constitutional provisions relating to the number of delegates each branch is entitled to send should be strictly followed.

The duo had pointed out to the credentials committee that only a triennial delegates conference could make such a change - by way of an amendment to the constitution - and not the supreme council.

The trouble started on Day Two of the credentials committee meeting when the chairman apparently reversed his decision by allowing himself to be guided by the decision of the supreme council on the issue.

There was an uproar leading to Clement and Sibat walking out of the meeting around 11 in the morning. However, they returned to the meeting when it resumed at 2.30pm.

Nevertheless, Jawie was so ruffled at the end of the day's meeting that he wanted to quit as chairman, but he was persuaded to stay on by some party leaders.

Defection of two key leaders

Then came reports that two of the party's supreme council members thought to be pro-Tajem/Salang (photo) switched camp, dividing the two factions equally at 16 members each and leaving Moggie as president with the casting vote.

Malaysiakini understands that the quarrels are so deep-rooted that only the intervention from the top Barisan Nasional leadership at both state and federal levels could perhaps stop the party from breaking up.

The Masing faction, buoyed by the increase in their ranks from the defection of two supreme council members, it could force a vote of no-confidence against party leader Moggie at the next supreme council meeting.

Alternatively, it could call for an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) and elect their own leaders.

But the stumbling block to an EGM move is said to be the secretary-general Stanley Ajang Batok, whose signature is required for any such notice to be given.

Although Ajang, who is also the state assemblyperson for Belaga, has not publicly declared where he stands, he is seen, however, as largely working together with the Moggie-Tajem-Salang side.

Both Ajang and Joseph Salang Gandum, the party's treasurer-general and Julau member of parliament, are shareholders and directors of Edward & Sons (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, a Class-A contractor that, among other things, is also involved in the Sime Darby-led consortium building the multi-billion Bakun hydro dam. Salang is also seen as a protege of Moggie.

Form new party

An alternative scenario is for the Masing faction to pull out of PBDS and, like the Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP), form their own party and then apply to join the BN.

Pending any formal admission into the BN, they could be taken on board based on the concept of a BN-plus government, for which a precedent was set when PBDS was formed and remained in BN government after its leaders left the Sarawak National Party (Snap) in the 1980s to form the new party.

The majority of elected members of PBDS are with the Masing faction, and according to observers, it will be difficult for the top BN leadership to ignore such realities if and when the situation comes to a head.

A highly-placed BN source: "Anything can happen to PBDS now."

One senior reporter, asked as to what could happen next after the suspension of the credentials committee meeting and the defection of the two supreme council members, replied: "Don't know."