A group of former members and supporters of the defunct Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) submitted an application to the Registrar of Societies (ROS) in Kuching today to register a new party - the Malaysian Dayak Congress (MDC).

"The aim of the new party is to fill the vacuum created following the de-registration of the Dayak-based PBDS in October 2004 and to enable the Dayaks to play a role in Barisan Nasional (BN) politics," MDC pro tem publicity chief Joseph Tawie told malaysiakini.

He said the party was also trying to accommodate some 100,000 of the130,000 former PBDS members who had been rendered without a party following PBDS' de-registration last October.

Tawie, a retired police press officer and former PBDS Simunjang branch chairperson, said the party's application was submitted to the ROS this morning and was received and acknowledged by the second most senior officer Edwin Anjang in the absence of his superior.

He added that he expected the ROS office in Kuching to go through the application within the next month or so "after which we will go to Kuala Lumpur and pursue the matter with the help of a few friends."

Join BN

Once the party is registered it will apply to join the Barisan Nasional, he said, adding that he could not tell how long it would take before a decision is known.

Asked if the five PBDS elected representatives who remain without a party, including Deputy Foreign Minister Joseph Salang, would be invited to join the new party, Tawie said they are welcomed to do so.

"If they don't, so be it," he added.

He said if state elections are held and the party is not part of BN by then, it would contest the elections on its own ticket.

MDC's pro tem president is Nicholas Bawing who until recently was the deputy chairperson of a statutory body Majlis Adat Istiadat. He is also president of Sarawak Dayak National Union (SDNU), one of the largest associations in the state.

Pro tem deputy president is medical specialist Dr John Nichal Rayong and pro tem vice presidents are Orang Ulu lawyer Paul Raja, former district council secretary Cheba Abu and journalist Francis Gidar.

The secretary-general is lawyer Louis Jarraw and the treasurer is accountant/contractor Joshua Karin.

Pro tem committee members are Branking Kilan, Henry Edwin Tangkun, James Jalai Gayau and Major (ret) Bunsi anak Kasin, a lawyer.

"We are very confident our new party will be very well received, especially after 100,000 members of the defunct PBDS have steadfastly remained partyless and we are providing a new platform to continue with the struggle," said Tawie.

Snap disappointed

Meanwhile, Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president Dr James Masing, an ex-PBDS leader, reacting recently to reports on the new party, said it was the democratic right of people to form a new party.

PRS was formed at the same time PBDS was de-registered, and now claims to have about 40,000 members, mostly from the defunct party.

The opposition Sarawak National Party (Snap), although multi-racial has a largely Dayak appeal, is said to be disappointed with the formation of a new Dayak party.

Its deputy president Justine Jinggut, a former Ulu Rajang member of parliament, was reported to have attempted to dissuade the promoters of MDC from going ahead with their plans by offering Snap a platform to accommodate former PBDS members and to contest the elections.

TONY THIEN is malaysiakini's Sarawak-based stringer.