Despite being seen as having the strong backing of the state Barisan Nasional (BN), the unusually long wait for Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) on its application to join the ruling front has raised many questions.

At a press conference after witnessing the swearing-in of the party's Youth central committee members in Kuching over the weekend, PRS leader Dr James Masing (photo) said Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has not called a federal BN supreme council meeting since the party's registration last September.

The state BN supreme council had met and endorsed PRS' application immediately after the party was formed following the de-registration for the second and final time of Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS).

The defunct PBDS had 14 elected representatives eight state assemblypersons and six members of Parliament. Nine six state assembypersons and three MPs joined PRS while the other five remain without a party, awaiting word on their joint application to join Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud's Parti Pesaka-Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB).

Among the five are Deputy Foreign Minister Joseph Salang, who is Julau MP, and former PBDS secretary-general and Belaga state assemblyperson Stanley Ajang.

'Doors are shut'

However, PBB appears to have tossed the application back at the five, which was evident from a comment made by its deputy president Alfred Jabu after last Friday's PBB supreme council meeting.

The Borneo Post quoted him as saying that PBB had shut the door for good on the five. He claimed that it would be "morally, ethically and political wrong" for PBB to accept them.

He added that to accept them would give the impression that PBB was behind the PBDS split and was now trying to grab more elected representatives in order to strengthen itself. He also implied that it would be best for the five to join PRS "since they are all from the same race".

"It appears that the issue of the five has become a rather hot potato, as it seems to be linked with PRS' application to join BN," said a political analyst.

The permutation is that if the five can join their former PBDS colleagues who are now in PRS, then there is nothing left to delay the admission of PRS into BN, he added.

PBB itself is known to be not exactly united on the issue of the five, as certain leaders have strong reservations for admitting them on the grounds that it could affect the party's racial equilibrium.

It's PM's call

PRS' application was to have been discussed at a BN supreme council meeting that Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak (photo) had fixed immediately after the premier's return from an official trip abroad. But the meeting was cancelled at the last minute and no reasons were given.

PBB assistant secretary-general Peter Minos told malaysiakini recently that contrary to what some have suggested, Taib had "pushed hard" for PRS' application.

"It's now left to the PM," he added.

But if the premier wants PBB to make a decision on the five before PRS is formally accepted into BN, he may see a continued procrastination on PBB's part - which some speculate as Taib's way of getting back at some PBDS' past leaders who rebelled against him during the infamous Ming Court Affair in 1987.

Although the incident has nothing to do with the five, certain PRS' leaders, including its president Masing, was among those against Taib's leadership then.

If no decision is made before the next election, which could be held earlier than November next year, PRS candidates may find themselves in a fix as they cannot contest under a BN ticket.

One possibility would be for the candidates to contest on a Barisan Plus ticket like PBDS when it contested under BN after it was formed following a split in the Sarawak National Party (Snap).

As for Jabu's statement that PBB doors have closed on the partyless five, an opposition Dayak politician said the politician may have fallen into a trap of his making with the arrogant remark.

"If Jabu (photo) and the other Dayaks in PBB (a merger of the Dayak-based Parti Pesaka Anak Sarawak and the Muslim/Malay/Melanau Parti Bumiputera in 1976) are not Dayaks and the five cannot not join PBB, then what new race do they (Jabu and his allies) belong to?'

Jabu has subsequently claimed that what he actually meant was for the five to try and reconcile with their former colleagues in PRS before PBB decided on their application.

"PBB has not closed its doors," he added.

No new party

PBB senior vice-president Adenan Satem, who is widely seen as Taib's successor, is believed to have little objection to accepting the five into the party.

Malaysiakini learnt that Adenan is constantly in touch with Salang and the others either in Kuala Lumpur or Kuching.

On the other hand, Masing was conciliatory when reporters asked him about the five. He said although they had opposing views in PBDS, "I can have coffee with them now."

However, the five said it will be difficult for them to work together again in one party, much less join PRS.

On the same note, Salang denied that they are planning to form a new Dayak-based party, the Malaysian Dayak Congress.

He said the five would continue to knock on PBB's doors until they are allowed in.
TONY THIEN is malaysiakini's Sarawak-based stringer.