Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) today held an emergency supreme council meeting to discuss the implications of the October 6 show-cause letter from the Registrar of Societies (ROS).

"Today I briefed the supreme council members on the implications of the show-cause letter and the steps that I have taken within the last few days to provide a satisfactory explanation and answer to the ROS letter," its president Daniel Tajem told reporters after a two-hour meeting at party headquarters in Jalan Wan Alwi, Kuching.

The party, according to him, viewed the matter seriously and would reply within 30 day unless an extension of time was applied for and granted by the ROS. Should they fail to do so, the party had also been given notice it could lead to its de-registration.

Tajem and his ertswhile rival former information chief Dr James Masing met together with the Home Ministry secretary-general Aseh Che Mat and the ROS Dahari Ibrahim on October 6 in Putra Jaya on the outcome of investigations into complaints against their separate actions.

Masing who leads a faction that comprises nine of the party's 14 elected representatives (six state assemblypersons and three members of parliament) was told both verbally and in writing that their triennial delegates conference (TDC) in Bintulu on July 25 did not comply with the provisions of the party constitution and was deemed invalid.

Focus on 29 branches

Tajem, on the other hand, was given a show-cause letter which he explained today to reporters was about the issues related to delegates from 29 branches who were registered for the party's TDC in Santubong on July 26-27.

"Basically it involves 29 branches and Article 15 Clause 13 of para 3 of the PBDS Constitution which I had said in my previous press conference is subject to variant perceptions as to the provision of that particular Article," he said.

Tajem explained to reporters how he interpreted the nature of query from the ROS in its letter to the party.

Referring to that particular Article, he said:"If you put two lawyers together, each of them will have a different view of how it can be interpreted."

He said the whole thing is about delegates from the 29 branches. "It all boils down to the delegates. The question is how the delegates can be determined, who can represent the branches and how many branches can send delegates."

Before the fixing of the date of the Santubong TDC, the supreme council at its meeting on May 25 established a credentials committee. Under the party constitution, members of the committee are the ones who can vet and scrutinise the eligibility of delegates to attend the TDC.

He further explained: "As a result of the amendments to the party constitution in the year 2000 TDC and approved and registered by the ROS on February 22, 2001, there is an additional provision which requires that even the branch which can send delegates need to be scrutinised under Article 8 ."

"Under Article 8, the words used there are 'unless a branch is registered three months before the date for the fixing of the date of the TDC they are not entitled to send delegates."

Tajem said as a result of this additional provision the credentials committee did not only determine how many delegates a branch was entitled to send but also they had to determine which branch was entitled to send delegates to the TDC.

Complied with all rules

The PBDS president said he was confident that 'we will answer the query by the ROS faithfully, sincerely and truthfully.'

He said the party had complied with all the rules and procedures in the process of party nominations and elections ."In fact we did more than just that to ensure the full compliance with the party constitution, the Societies Act and all other laws."

Earlier this week, Masing told reporters that his group would be consulting legal experts on their appeal against the ROS decision declaring their Bintulu gathering and all decisions made at that meeting as invalid.

Malaysiakini, however, understands that the Masing group may eventually not go ahead with the appeal as experts who have studied the contents of the letter talked about its 'finality'. Masing said the ROS made no mention that the group could appeal against his decision.

According to most observers, Masing appears likely to abandon any idea about appealing against the ROS decision on their Bintulu gathering and may now be contemplating various options.

A local English-language daily Sarawak Tribune yesterday carried a headline story quoting Masing as saying that he considered the best option would be for a compromise.

Tajem told malaysiakini today that the party would for the moment rather concentrate on getting ready its reply to the ROS letter in order to save the party and deal with other matters at a later stage.