The Masing-Sng faction in crisis-ridden Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) appears to have backed off its plan to form a separate supreme council.

Presidential aspirant Dr James Masing was today quoted in a local English daily The Borneo Post as saying that forming a separate supreme council (SC) and holding a separate triennial delegates conference (TDC) were "options that have not yet been considered".

This contradicts reported remarks by one of Masing's staunch supporters - sacked SC member Dublin Unting - that Masing would announce the supreme council line-up at "an appropriate time".

"We have drawn up a list of the SC members. "There will be some new faces, except for the top five posts, the president, deputy president and the three vice-presidents," the former secretary-general was quoted as saying in press reports.

Unting, who is also an assistant state minister, made the remarks to reporters after a party divisional gathering in Miri on Sunday.

Masing's latest remarks are now being seen in the context of a possible move to end the in-fighting, which has dragged on for several months.

While he still talks about leaders abiding by the party constitution and Societies Act, Masing appears to indicate that there is a possibility the two factions may come together.

No pre-conditions

When The Borneo Post asked if he would accept an invitation from new president Daniel Tajem to solve the PBDS crisis, Masing said that he would have "no qualms if such a meeting were arranged out of sincerity and without any pre-conditions".

However, he said Tajem, had not made any such moves as yet. Tajem last week succeeded Leo Moggie, who resigned abruptly to allow him to resolve the crisis.

Masing said the last contact he had with Tajem was when he received a letter saying that he (Masing) had been terminated as the party's information chief.

He further indicated that any mediation effort should involve Moggie, although he said Moggie should have initiated this six months ago.

It is learnt, however, that the Tajem-Salang faction is unlikely to make any move towards mediation.

An aide close to Tajem told malaysiakini: "Before he is prepared to sit down and listen(to what the other side has to say) he may want a public apology from Masing (for actions and statements against the party)."

"Tajem has to consult other senior SC members. Tajem may even have to say he cannot guarantee that Masing and his supporters can keep their membership in PBDS after what they've done."

Preparations for TDC

The Tajem-Salang faction is going ahead to ensure that all registered and eligible branches are ready to attend the TDC scheduled on July 26-27, to elect new leaders for a three-year term.

They have printed pamphlets with their supreme council line-up with Tajem as president and Joseph Salang Gandum as deputy president. Masing and his supporters are not on the list.

However, whoever is elected president has the power to appoint 10 members to the supreme council after consultations with other elected party leaders.

"We're making all the necessary preparations to hold the TDC. There are no changes in our plans whatsoever," an official said.

Meanwhile, the Masing-Sng faction is continuing with its statewide roadshow in all major towns to drum up support from local branch leaders and members.

A big gathering is to be held in Kapit, central Sarawak, on Saturday at a meet-the-people session to be attended by a large number of Masing supporters.

This will be in conjunction with the official ground-breaking ceremony of the Jalan Ng Meluku-Nanga Gat during which a top state BN leader is expected to address the session.

Masing, speaking to reporters after a campaigning visit to Sri Aman yesterday, that his group was still keen to fight it out at the TDC, provided that it is held according to the party constitution and ROS rules.

Asked if he and his supporters were disqualified from standing for posts in the TDC, he said: "We will cross the bridge when we come to it."