The application to register Malaysian Dayak Congress (MDC) has finally been forwarded by the Registrar of Societies (ROS) Kuching office to its headquarters in Putrajaya after processing and security vetting, according to its pro tem publicity chief Joseph Tawie.

The application, first submitted on May 6, was forwarded to ROS headquarters yesterday after the MDC pro tem committee sent an official complaint that Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud was reported to have told BN elected representatives that ROS officers in Kuching wanted to see him regarding the application.

(During the closed-door meeting, Taib was said to have asked Dayak BN leaders for their comments. Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president Dr James Masing said his party would object because it would further split the Dayaks).

The complaint letters were sent to the Complaints Bureau in the Prime Minister's Department with copies to the ROS in Putrajaya and the police.

"The information we've received is that as far as security vetting is concerned, it has been cleared, and we saw no reason why the application should still be sitting in the ROS office in Kuching and not forwarded to Putrajaya," Tawie told malaysiakini.

MDS pro tem chairperson Nicholas Bawin said he had tried unsuccessfully to meet with the ROS Sarawak director James Ho to enquire into the status of the application. He was informed earlier that it would take about four months to process the application before a decision could be made.

First obstacle cleared

Tawie said Ho never denied that he wanted to see Taib regarding MDC's application.

"I think we've cleared the first obstacle now that the application has been forwarded to Putrajaya," he added.

He said they planned to pursue the matter further with the ROS within the next two weeks.

"We are very hopeful (MDC will be registered) given the liberal policy of our Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. We expect the decision sometime in August or September," Tawie said.

A senior PRS leader has acknowledged that the MDC has some support among the Dayaks in the rural areas "but we are not unduly worried because the people will always come round and support the BN during elections".

TONY THIEN is malaysiakini's Sarawak-based stringer.