If there is anyone who is not happy with the decision by Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) yesterday to postpone its triennial delegates conference till after the next state elections, it has to be Adenan Satem.

The party's senior vice-president has been campaigning throughout the state over the past year in anticipation of mounting a challenge for the deputy president's post.

Adenan who is also natural resources and environment minister was said to be confident of winning the post which will effectively confirm him as the number two in the party and automatic successor to Abdul Taib Mahmud as chief minister of Sarawak.

The PBB convention, scheduled next month in Miri, was postponed on the suggestion of Taib to prevent the party from landing into serious trouble with the Registrar of Societies (ROS) following numerous complaints of branch election irregularities.

At the same time, according to a PBB supreme council member who asked not to identified, Taib had either inadvertently or otherwise stymied plans by a group within the party supporting Adenan Satem to take over control of party affairs to oust their rivals.

Asked to comment whether the decision to defer the conferences was good for the party, the source said: "I take it positively, especially the dismantling of the group that has been registering branches and controlling party apparatus for their own interests."

Among the complaints PBB headquarters received in divisional elections in the run-up to the party convention were that some unregistered branches were allowed to send delegates and vote.

One such division was Demak Laut where official complaints were lodged to the party after two unregistered branches were allowed to vote in its elections for the youth section. Another involved the Belaga division.

Five years' wait?

At yesterday's supreme council meeting chaired by Taib as party president, it was decided to form a task force to be chaired by Taib to take over the tasks of branch registration, including taking steps to regularise illegal branches and to hear complaints.

The task force will act independently and, according to the PBB source, "this does not appear to be good for Adenan as it means it will be at least two years before the delegates conference is held."

"Furthermore, if the resolution (calling for all top posts to be uncontested) is still valid, that will add another three years making a total of five years which means Adenan will be 68 years old by then whereas (PBB deputy president and state Housing Minister) Abang Johari will be 59," he added.

There is little secret that Adenan aspires to be the next chief minister and although he seems to be one of Taib's choices, that will also depend on whether he has the support of party members.

According to the source, Adenan was "extremely quiet" when Taib proposed the party convention be postponed and those present all endorsed the suggestion.

"Taib and Abang Johari are happy with the decision but it does not seem to be same case with Adenan," he added.

Meanwhile, the party has appointed its other deputy president for the Pesaka wing Alfred Jabu to head the organising committee for the seminar which will replace the delegates conference to debate the Ninth Malaysia Development Plan on September 16-17 in Miri.

TONY THIEN is malaysiakini's Sarawak-based stringer