With the factional infighting within the Sarawak National Party (Snap) threatening to go overboard, third-party efforts are reportedly underway to bring the two sides together and reach some form of a compromise.

The initiatives have come largely from some neutral party members who are concerned with the possible long-term effects of the present split in the party.

The split came after the April 20 central executive committee chaired by party president James Wong Kim Min, 80, which expelled the member of Parliament for Bintulu Tiong King Sing. Anticipating the move, deputy president Peter Tinggom and seven other CEC members staged a walkout after their views were ignored.

The ageing president's supporters in the CEC include the senior vice-president, the assemblyperson for Limbang and eldest son Richard Wong, 48, Senator William Lau and nine central committee (CEC) members, mostly presidential appointees. Under the constitution, the president can appoint five members, including principal office-bearers such as secretary-general and treasurer-general.

The other faction, headed by party deputy Tinggom, the member of Parliament for Saratok and a former deputy federal minister, includes vice-president and state Environment and Public Health Minister William Mawan, Snap Youth chief Dr Judson Tagal, Snap Women chief Winnie Jolly, and five other CEC members as well as Snap CEC ex-officio Dr Tiki Lafe, deputy federal minister of national unity and community development.

There is a gag order from the Kuching High Court barring Tinggom and seven of his faction leaders from convening and presiding over party meetings as well as from issuing press statements.

Malaysiakini understands the group is now consulting a team of lawyers on whether the court injunction that Wong and Snap secretary-general Justine Jinggut obtained on Friday could be set aside.

Gawai gala

A national council meeting called by the Tinggom group for Sunday had to be cancelled following the court order.

Instead, more than 100 delegates and observers from 50 divisions throughout Sarawak, who had already made their way to Kuching, attended what Mawan described as a Gawai Dayak dinner in his private residence in Jalan Stapok on Saturday night. It was originally planned to be held at the Regency Rajah Court Hotel, the venue for the proposed national council meeting.

0utstation delegates started arriving in Kuching on Friday. They checked into 77 rooms in the three-star Regency, and after meeting informally with each other for breakfast and lunch on Sunday, started heading back for their hometowns either by boat, sea or air.

"Some of them paid for their own rooms, and this time the delegates did not even ask for allowances, unlike in the past," one of Mawan's aides told reporters.

Because of the gag order from the court, most leaders of the dissenting group were not seen at the hotel on Sunday morning.

Instead, malaysiakini was told, they held separate and private meetings with the divisional heads in another venue.

The controversial former Snap treasurer-general Tiong who signed a unity pact together with the group last week was seen mixing with some of the delegates and observers staying at the hotel.

When a local TV station reporter approached him for an interview, he declined initially, but was later persuaded to talk when some media members pointed out that he was not affected by the court injunction. At the very least, they said, he should be able to respond to some of Wong's comments concerning his appeal against the CEC's decision to expel him from Snap and related matters.

The Snap chief had told the media after last Friday's three-hour CEC meeting held soon after his return from Australia that he had been waiting for two years for Tiong to see him to sort out certain matters.

Refuting this on Sunday, Tiong said he had written numerous letters to the party president concerning several party matters, including the TV3 issue and party administration, and had also tried in vain to meet him. He added that his letters addressed to the party president were sent to Snap headquarters and Wong's company address at Limbang Trading Sdn Bhd.

"He could not say he never received the letters," he said.

Asked whether there was a chance of the two factions coming together for a compromise, Tiong suggested that this would depend to a large extent on whether the party president was willing to meet them.

Constitution of CEC doubted

In last Friday's media conference, Wong told reporters he was always available to meet Mawan and his group, but indicated that the initiative would have to come from them "since they started the whole thing in the first place".

Malaysiakini understands from a CEC member who asked not to be quoted, that during the CEC meeting last week, Wong did express the hope that Mawan and his group might come back.

According to the CEC member, Wong might not, however, be as keen on Tinggom whom he had accused of usurping the president's powers.

Wong had told reporters that the CEC had received a letter of appeal from Tiong and the party would deal with it in accordance with the party constitution.

Commenting on this, Tiong said his appeal does not really matter now because he, like other members of the Tinggom-Mawan group, considers the constitution of the CEC headed by the party president as not being proper nor legal. This is because the appointment of certain members by the president has not followed the party constitution, he claimed.

Tiong has signed a pact with Tinggom and other faction leaders to stand by each other and pledge support for the top BN leadership at both state and federal levels.

On Saturday night, at the end of a quick trip to attend a Gawai Dayak Open Day dinner graced by the King and his consort, which also saw the presence of Mawan and all Snap-elected MPs, Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi told reporters the court injunction against the Snap 8 had to be obeyed until it is either set side or dissolved.

Asked whether there would be a solution to the Snap crisis, Abdullah said: "I am sure there is a way if they (the two sides) work hard enough."

Top Barisan Nasional leaders at state and federal levels, though adopting a neutral stand so far, are watching the developments closely and anxious for the differences to be resolved before the parliamentary elections, widely expected to be held next year.

Mawan and his group met Abdullah briefly at the Merdeka Palace Hotel & Suites before the deputy premier left for the Gawai gala at the Kuching Civic Centre.

Compromise

Malaysiakini now understands that concerned party members not aligned to any of the groups are trying to get the two sides to come together and arrive at some compromise to avert an even worse split within the party.

One cynical comment is that if it quarrels go on unabated "Snap will end up from having the present 150,000 members reduced to 1 1/2 members (Wong and his son)".

One of the senior party leaders closely aligned to the party president said he had a heart-to-heart talk with Wong about the future of the party.

According to him, Wong was amenable to a reconciliation, but stressed that the Mawan group should take into consideration Wong's contribution and leadership of the party for so many years and should not force him to step down immediately.

'The triennial general assembly (TGA) is in February and let his (the president's) term run its full course,' he said, adding that contrary to speculation Wong is not insisting that his son Richard takes over.

"Let the delegates decide who they want next year to take over as president and succeed Wong."

One compromise that might be up for discussion is for Wong to give a written undertaking that he will step down come February and for the TGA to elect a new leader and let his son Richard carry on in his present position as senior vice-president, if that is the wish of the members.

The new president exercising his powers under the constitution and after consultation with the CEC members can appoint a new secretary-general, if that is the common desire, as well as other principal office-bearers, including the treasurer-general.

According to informed sources, even if this compromise is acceptable, the Mawan group would insist that the present secretary-general, Justine, be sacked because most members saw themselves as no longer able to work with him.

They have accused the president of listening only to Justine all these years. It is learnt that even several leaders in the president's group are inclined to agree with this view.

'What crisis?'

One way out to ensure that such a compromise is possible, according to the sources, is for the president to ask Justine to go on indefinite leave until the next TGA, if he is not willing to sack him, and to appoint an acting secretary-general (who needs not necessarily be the present deputy secretary-general) who can work with both sides and help prepare for the TGA.

The present deputy secretary general is Stanley Jugol who is also a James Wong supporter and therefore, not likely to be accepted by the Mawan group to act as secretary general.

Wong has since his return from a medical treatment in Australia last week sought to downplay the seriousness of the Snap crisis. Asked on at least two occasions, he replied: "Crisis? What crisis?"

Wong is no stranger to party crises in his 40 years in politics. At one time he was even detained for 14 months under the Internal Security Act in the 1970s during the turbulent days of Sarwak politics, allegedly for receiving secret funds from a neighbouring country for his party's political campaign.

Before his return from Australia, where he spent more than a month undergoing a knee operation and recuperating only to be forced to return to chair last week's CEC meeting, he told close aides: "I'm coming back to sort everything out." He said the same thing at an airport press conference on his return.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Mawan group said they have appointed a team of lawyers to study the grounds filed by the president and secretary-general in their ex-parte application for the injunction which was granted by Judicial Commissioner Zakaria Sam on Friday.

The order had already been served on all eight defendants. The Kuching High Court will begin hearing the merits of the case — the powers of the deputy president when acting for the president in his absence — on June 26.

Some neutral party leaders, gravely concerned at the party's future, hoped the court junction could also serve as a cooling-off period so that there would be little or no further public utterances and actions so that the two sides could be persuaded "to come to some senses" and "to sort things out properly".

TONY THIEN is a malaysiakini correspondent based in Kuching, Sarawak.