Go away, PRS rebel told

High-ranking PRS insiders close to party president Dr James Masing confirmed in several text messages from Kuching that party rebel “Beginda Minda resigned his membership with immediate effect on his own accord after being advised to do so by many people in his Balleh division”.

PRS secretary-general Wilfred Rata Nissom was not immediately available for comment and was reported to be away on official business in Lubok Antu, 300 km from Kuching, with Masing.

It is not known when Beginda dated his resignation letter and what are its exact contents.

“He (Beginda) cannot be going around attacking BN policies and the leadership while being a PRS member. PRS is a member of the coalition,” said the insiders.

“His resignation is necessary to enable him to pursue his line of argument independently without putting PRS in an awkward position vis-a-vis the chief minister in particular.”

“Beginda knows he will eventually be sacked after being given the show cause letter. That’s another reason why he accepted the advice to resign. The truth, or otherwise, of Beginda’s claims is another matter and should not be used to pit PRS against the chief minister.”

Resignation less painful

Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud has been reported as saying in the local media that he feels that somebody is trying to stab him in the heart while he’s sleeping. This has been taken by many in the know as a thinly-veiled reference to Masing and precipitated the show cause letter to Beginda “to settle the issue once and for all”.

Earlier, Masing had told various media that he can’t stop his people from speaking their minds but “we have to draw a line somewhere since we are in a coalition with other parties. We should not hurt the feelings of others although we may think that we are right”.

The insiders were not convinced with Beginda’s published remarks in several media that quoted him as saying that he “resigned to protect my president” and categorically denying any links with Sng Chee Hua, former party deputy president.

The insiders conceded that Beginda’s resignation was a less painful path for the party leadership since “sacking takes time and has to follow the party constitution”.

“It is not something that Masing can do immediately,” said one insider. “It is also not right for Beginda to claim that he is Masing’s right-hand man although he is from Baleh like the party president.”

Apparently, there is something more to it than meets the eye in Beginda Minda’s recent attacks on the Sarawak leadership, in particular Taib and his long-serving deputy, Alfred Jabu. Both men have been in their posts for almost three decades and show no signs of stepping aside despite growing unease in recent years over their long tenure in office.

To add insult to injury, Jabu refuses to give up the chairmanship of Salcra (Sarawak Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority) which comes under James Masing’s Land Development Ministry. The chairmanship has traditionally been held by the land development minister. Jabu is in the curious position of having to report to the land development minister on matters involving Salcra but refuses to do so since he’s a deputy chief minister and out-ranks Masing in the state cabinet. Salcra has been cited, by Beginda, as one instance of PBB bullying PRS.

Credit for Beginda

Beginda has been credited as being the first in Sarawak in recent years to openly call upon the “inseparable duo” to resign and make way for the younger generation to assume the mantle of power, saying “enough is enough”.

Taib, in particular, has been accused of squatting on everybody, especially the Dayak community, and using his powerful PBB (Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu) to bully his way through with the other component parties of the BN, especially the Dayak-based parties, “and making a mockery of the so-called BN system of power-sharing and the oft-cited BN spirit”.

“Ever ten years or so, a Dayak-based politically party is deliberately deregistered and the Dayaks have to begin their political re-organisation all over again from scratch,” Beginda has complained.

“Snap, SPDP, PBDS, PRS all have been in trouble. The Registrar of Societies refuses to register the Malaysian Dayak Congress which is composed of ex-PBDS members who are not in PRS. Snap’s fate hangs in the balance. PRS is almost in the same position.”

Other voices have been heard in cyberspace, jumping on the Beginda bandwagon, and calling for Taib to be probed by the authorities concerned on his family’s widely perceived “fabulous wealth and having a finger in the pie in any business that moves in Sarawak”.

But that will be another story for another day.