Chief Minister and state Barisan Nasional chairperson Taib Mahmud will formally launch the newly-registered Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) on Jan 23 at an international-standard hotel in Kuching.

This will co-incide with the newly formed party's two-day inaugural conference which will be attended by delegates from various branches and to elect their new leaders.

State Land Development Minister Dr James Masing (photo, right) is widely expected to take over as the party's first elected president from the pro-tem president Sidi Munan, a civil servant turned politician.

Businessman Sng Chee Hua, a former vice-president of the now defunct Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS), is expected to be the party's first deputy president.

A PRS senior leader Dublin Unting, who is also an assistant state minister, told malaysiakini today that the new leadership line-up would be finalised on Jan 22.

Dublin, a one-time secretary-general of PBDS, is tipped either to be secretary-general or information chief.

Status of partyless five

Nine of PBDS' elected representatives - three members of parliament and six state assemblypersons - have joined PRS while the remaining five comprising three MPs and two state assemblypersons have indicated their desire to join Taib's Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu Sarawak (PBB).

No decision has yet been made on their application to join PBB en bloc.

Although the state BN has accepted PRS' application to join BN, the federal BN has yet to meet. According to Dublin, he is not aware of any date having been fixed for a meeting of the federal BN to discuss PRS' application.

Sources told malaysiakini that Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is likely to call for a meeting of the federal BN after the position of the so-called five partyless elected representatives from PBDS has been settled.

"As of now, even the state BN secretary-general is still in the dark as to the date of the next federal BN meeting," Dublin said.

Meanwhile, local newspapers today quoted Dr Masing as saying that as this was the party's first statewide conference, there would be no elections.

Instead the founding members of the party would nominate the new leadership line-up, he added.