PBDS: Its too late for compromises, says Masing faction
Tony ThienPublished: Oct 18, 2004 6:32 AM | Updated: Jan 29, 2008 10:21 AM
It is too late to talk about a compromise to save the beleaguered Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS), said Dublin Unting, a senior leader aligned to the James Masing faction.
It is too late to talk about a compromise to save the beleaguered Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS), said Dublin Unting, a senior leader aligned to the James Masing faction.
"All the proposals and formulae in the last two years have come to nothing. It is a dead end now," he added when contacted today.
He was responding to yesterday's comments by a senior leader of the Daniel Tajem faction (pix), Joseph Salang, that it was still not too late for the two factions to come together and work on a compromise.
Salang, the party's former treasurer-general, reportedly said that both factions must be prepared to swallow a little of their pride if they genuinely wanted to save the party and prevent a further split in the Dayak community.
He said they could agree on a leadership line-up and get the branches to endorse it before the triennial delegates conference.
However, Dublin dismissed this as a waste of time as there would never be any agreement.
The faction led by former party information chief Masing, who is also state land development minister, is said to have been agreeable to the other faction leader Tajem as president and Masing as his deputy.
But the plan was stymied after the Masing faction had insisted on having only their men in key positions in the party.
New party
Meanwhile, Prime Minister and Barisan Nasional (BN) chairperson Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has rejected any idea of the Dayak-based party being de-registered again in favour of other solutions to resolve the problems, according to reliable sources.
The BN management committee meeting last week chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak was said to have recommended de-registration after failure to hold party elections over disagreements on the delegates list to be used.
The sources said Abdullah might, however,consider letting the Masing faction which is supported by nine out of the party's 14 elected representatives to form their own party, and for the party to be part of the government based on the Barisan Plus concept.
The BN Plus concept was used in 1983 when PBDS was formed after a leadership crisis in the Sarawak National Party (Snap).
Asked to comment on reports that a new party is being formed by the Masing faction, Dublin said: "Something like that is going on."
TONY THIEN is malaysiakini's Sarawak-based stringer.
"All the proposals and formulae in the last two years have come to nothing. It is a dead end now," he added when contacted today.
He was responding to yesterday's comments by a senior leader of the Daniel Tajem faction (pix), Joseph Salang, that it was still not too late for the two factions to come together and work on a compromise. Salang, the party's former treasurer-general, reportedly said that both factions must be prepared to swallow a little of their pride if they genuinely wanted to save the party and prevent a further split in the Dayak community.
He said they could agree on a leadership line-up and get the branches to endorse it before the triennial delegates conference.
However, Dublin dismissed this as a waste of time as there would never be any agreement.
The faction led by former party information chief Masing, who is also state land development minister, is said to have been agreeable to the other faction leader Tajem as president and Masing as his deputy.
But the plan was stymied after the Masing faction had insisted on having only their men in key positions in the party.
New party
Meanwhile, Prime Minister and Barisan Nasional (BN) chairperson Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has rejected any idea of the Dayak-based party being de-registered again in favour of other solutions to resolve the problems, according to reliable sources.
The BN management committee meeting last week chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak was said to have recommended de-registration after failure to hold party elections over disagreements on the delegates list to be used.
The sources said Abdullah might, however,consider letting the Masing faction which is supported by nine out of the party's 14 elected representatives to form their own party, and for the party to be part of the government based on the Barisan Plus concept. The BN Plus concept was used in 1983 when PBDS was formed after a leadership crisis in the Sarawak National Party (Snap).
Asked to comment on reports that a new party is being formed by the Masing faction, Dublin said: "Something like that is going on."
TONY THIEN is malaysiakini's Sarawak-based stringer.
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