PBDS Baru takes soft approach to registration

The protem committee of Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) Baru, thought upset with the long delay, will use a soft approach to get the Registrar of Societies (RoS) to register the party.

Signed by protem president Louis Jaraw and protem secretary-general James Jalai, the application to register the party was submitted on March 26 last year.

"We are in the dark as to what is happening to our application," Jaraw said today when asked to confirm newspaper reports that he and former members of the defunct PBDS had applied for PBDS Baru to be registered.

PBDS was deregistered on Oct 21, 2004 following a long leadership tussle between party president Daniel Tajem and information chief James Masing.

Masing, together with businessman Sng Chee Hua, later formed the multi-racial Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), which was registered by RoS, on the same day that PBDS was deregistered.

Tajem and thousands of former members of PBDS have remained without any party, despite the invitation to join PRS.

They formed the Malaysian Dayak Congress before the 2006 state elections, but its application for registration was rejected by RoS on grounds of "national security".

The underlying reason for the delay was strong opposition from Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud and Dayak leaders, like Masing and deputy chief minister Alfred Jabu.

They claimed that Sarawak had too many political parties for a state with a small population.

Protem waiting for next move

"We are not going to be confrontational neither are we going to go to court to compel RoS to register our party," Jaraw said of the delay to register PBDS Baru.

Jaraw and other protem committee members may seek an appointment to meet the RoS to find out the reasons for the delay.

"Since we submitted the application, we have not heard anything from the authority. Are they going to register our party or otherwise," the practising lawyer based in Sibu said.

He said he believed that there is no problem with the RoS office in Kuching.

"The problem may lay with the RoS headquarters in Kuala Lumpur," he suggested.

He said the protem committee will decide on the next course of action if the PBDS Baru is not registered.

He, however, did not set the deadline for the RoS to register his party.

"It is still too early for me to say it now, but hopefully, our party is registered before the coming general elections," he added.

Jaraw explained that PBDS Baru, even if it is registered, might not be contesting in the coming elections.

"We need to open up branches, recruit members and set our operation ready. More importantly, we need to be battle ready before we can go for the elections.

"But the way I look at it, we will not be battle ready yet," he said.

He said the protem committee had wished for PBDS Baru to be registered before the April 16, 2011 state elections.

"Naturally, we were disappointed that it had not been registered, otherwise, we could enter the fray," he said.

Taking the middle ground

Jaraw maintained that PBDS Baru would not apply to join the Barisan Nasional neither would it be with the DAP, PKR and Pas in Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

"We would be strictly in the middle. We want to be on our own," he said.

On why he and the other protem committee decided to go for the name PBDS Baru for their party, Jaraw said they are just following in the footsteps of former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, who formed Umno Baru after Umno was declared an illegal society by the High Court in 1987.

Umno Baru leadership later decided to drop the word "Baru". Jaraw explained that PBDS Baru would do the same.

He said the idea to form PBDS Baru was based on a finding from a state-wide survey, which revealed that many former PBDS members who remained partyless had requested for the formation of a new PBDS.

"There are thousands of former PBDS members who have opted to remain partyless after the deregistration of their party.

"They wanted the former leaders to start a new party whose objectives and aspirations must be the same with those of PBDS," Jaraw said.

Dayak divisions

PBDS was formed in 1983 by a group of Dayak leaders who broke away from the Sarawak National Party (Snap) following a disagreement with Snap president James Wong Kim Min over the sacking of Tajem.

Meanwhile, Masing, although not objecting to the formation of PBDS Baru, asked whether the Dayak community can afford to have another Dayak-based party.

"We are too small a community to be split into many Dayak parties," he said.

Among the parties with large Dayak supporters are Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP), PRS and Snap.

The Dayaks are also found in large numbers in Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP), Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB), and PKR.

Masing, who is also the Sarawak land development minister, said the Dayaks can be very effective, politically, if they are united under a single party.

"They (PBDS Baru promoters) should take this view into consideration before deciding to register a new party.

"In any case, I wish them the best of luck," he stated.