Following the deregistration of Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) yesterday, Dr James Masing and his men have successfully found refuge in Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS).

PRS officially admitted the state land and development minister and key leaders of his faction today, a first step towards anointing Masing as the president of PRS eventually.

"We thank the promoters of PRS under its pro tem president, Sidi Munan, who made our application easier," Masing was quoted as saying in a Bernama report.

The elected representatives aligned to him are three parliamentarians - Billy Abit Joo (Hulu Rejang), Joseph Entulu (Selangau), who is also state assemblyperson for Tamin, and Jimmy Donald (Sri Aman). The other state assembly representatives are Dublin Unting Ingkot (Batang Ai), Larry Sng (Pelagus), John Sikie Taya (Kakus) and Mong Dagang (Bukit Begunan).

The Home Ministry deregistered the 21-year-old PBDS for the second time after the party failed to hold its Triennial Delegates' Conference (TDC) on Oct 9-10 as scheduled by the Barisan Nasional (BN) Technical Committee.

The three-year-old feud between Masing and the rival faction led by Daniel Tajem persisted despite attempts to bring the two camps together.

PBDS was deregistered on Dec 5 last year and reinstated on March10 this year just before the general election.

Join BN

Meanwhile, Masing said PRS would join the federal and state BN as soon as possible.

"I am now 55 years old. To build and lead a new house, I think, I am too old to do this. But, this is a responsibility which I have to execute for the best interest of PBDS members," he added.

He said an offer has been made to the other elected representatives aligned to Tajem to join PRS or the other three state BN parties.

"We should take the opportunity to unite under a new party and to strengthen the state BN. We need a new political vehicle to discharge our duties as wakil rakyat with the demise of PBDS," he said.

Application sent

Meanwhile, Sidi said PRS's application to become a member of the state BN was sent at 11.45am this morning to Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud.

Another application would be sent to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who is BN chairperson, to join the federal BN in place of PBDS.

Sidi said PRS would hold its meeting soon and invitations have already been distributed to former PBDS members aligned to Masing.

"This time, we will ensure no duplication of membership. A new systematic format has been introduced where recruits will have to place their thumbprint on the form to check fraud," he added.

Open to all

The newly-registered Dayak-based party is also opening its membership to any Malaysian of any ethnic and cultural background.

"With its registration, we received a lot of calls not only from the Dayak community but also the Malays, Chinese and others wanting to join us.

"It shows that PRS can not only champion the aspirations of the Dayak community, but also of other multi-racial groups in Sarawak.

"However, any application for membership from any member of existing component parties in BN will not be entertained to avoid misunderstanding between the new party and the coalition partners," said Sidi.

Contacted by malaysiakini this afternoon, Masing expressed confidence that PRS would be accepted into the BN.

Asked when he would take over as president of the new party, he replied, "it's still early to make that decision now but everything will eventually fall into place".