All is not well in the MCA as the party’s top two leaders look set to go toe-to-toe in a battle which is likely to have an adverse impact on the greater Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.
An online news portal claimed that supporters of the deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek are planning to call for an extraordinary general meeting to remove party president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat.
Ong’s backers are also planning to have Dr Chua hauled up before the party’s disciplinary committee to have him suspended for up to two years for “tarnishing the MCA’s image.” This is apparent when Ong said that the party won’t back illegal act.
More story from MalaysianInsider - First shots fired in MCA civil war and Tee Keat says party won’t back illegal act 
Dr George Chan Hong Nam the president of Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) confirmed on Monday that he would not be defending the Piasau state seat which he has been holding since 1983. He held the state seat of Piasau, Miri for 26 long years. I guess most SUPP party members rejoiced on hearing this news.
The other long serving state BN leader is Abdul Taib Mahmud who is the president of PBB and also the Chief Minister of Sarawak for almost 27 years. For 27 years (since 1981), he rule Sarawak with mixture of accomplishments and scandals and most Sarawakian feel that it time for him to go.
From TheStar
SUPP chief will not contest in next election
KUCHING: Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) president Tan Sri Dr George Chan Hong Nam confirmed Monday that he would not be defending the Piasau state seat which he has been holding since 1983.
The deputy chief minister said several young leaders had been identified as the potential candidate for the seat in the coming state election, which must be held at the latest by 2011.
”Yes, I have said this (not defending the seat), including to the media,” he told reporters at the SUPP Chinese New Year open house here Monday.
He said SUPP would give attention to strengthening the party, including nurturing young leaders who had good working relations with other Barisan Nasional component parties.
Dr Chan, 73, won the Lambir parliamentary seat in 1982. He contested and won the Miri state seat in the 1983 state election and defended it in 1987.
In the 1991 state election, Dr Chan retained the seat, which had been renamed Piasau, and has been its assemblyman ever since.
On the resignation of Datuk Dr Soon Choon Teck as the party’s deputy publicity secretary, he said party members should not make a big issue out of it.
What was important was for party members to remain united, he said.
He indicated that there would be changes to the SUPP lineup in the near future.
“Let’s wait for after the Chinese New Year. We are going to have a new team ... a mix of new and old faces to lead the party.” -- Bernama
James Jemut Masing, the president of Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) yesterday advised Larry Sng and his followers to avoid mocking the decision made by the Registrar of Societies (ROS).
Masing at yesterday’s press conference said there could only be one president in a political organisation and advised Sng’s followers to therefore respect the decision of ROS.
Related posts:
* Larry Sng will be partyless soon
* Larry Sng continue to confuse PRS grassroots
----------------
From theBorneoPost
Sng told to respect ROS decision
By Samuel Aubery
KUCHING: Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president Dato Sri Dr James Jemut Masing yesterday advised Larry Sng and his followers to avoid mocking the decision made by the Registrar of Societies (ROS).
“My advice to Larry Sng is to respect the decision of ROS, and I hope that he would advise his followers to do likewise and avoid making mockery of that decision,” said Masing at a press conference after the party’s supreme council meeting at its Jalan Pending headquarters here.
ROS Datuk Md Alias Kalil, in a letter issued on April 1, decided not to deregister PRS after he agreed with reasons or excuses put forward by Masing on the sacking of six PRS principal office bearers on May 25, 2006.
The letter was in response to the reply made by Masing to a showcause letter on Sept 7, 2006. Alias also confirmed that Masing is the president of PRS.
This, however, did not go down well with the Sng’s followers who until today still insist that Sng, the Pelagus assemblyman, is the legitimate president.
Masing at yesterday’s press conference said there could only be one president in a political organisation and advised Sng’s followers to therefore respect the decision of ROS.
It was also pointed out to Masing that reports on Internet blogs spoke of “homecoming” of divisions aligned to Sng, which apparently did not happen as none of those in the Sng camp attended yesterday’s meeting.
Masing, when asked by a reporter to comment on this, said the party had not received any application from members of Sng’s group to rejoin the party.
“As far as we are concerned, they (those aligned to him who were sacked during the party’s triennial general assembly in Sibu in Dec 2, 2006) remain sacked,” he said.
“In any political organisation, there must only be one president, cannot be two or three. The decision has been made by ROS and my advice to Larry Sng is to respect that decision and to tell his followers, whoever they are now, to do likewise,” he said.
Masing however was non-committal in his answers regarding Sng’s position in the party. He kept telling reporters to pose that question to Sng instead.
On another development, Masing also announced that PRS had formed a committee headed by lawyer Wendall Crocker to look at land matters which the party expected to be a major issue in the coming state election.
“PRS takes it upon itself that land issue will be one of the biggest issues that we will have to face come next election in Sarawak. Therefore, we have formed a very high powered committee to look at various land issues and identify the related weaknesses,” he said.
He pointed out that PRS was of the belief that land rights and land issues were synonymous with eradication of poverty.
“You settle the land rights and land issues, then our move to eradicate poverty in the rural areas will be on the right path.
“Our boys are looking into that, we have appointed committee members headed by lawyer Wendall Crocker. Hopefully, we have a preliminary submission by this December,” he said.
He added that the committee would also be looking at the legislative aspects of the land issues to find out “if there is any legislation that needs to be added in or reviewed” after which PRS would make its recommendation.
“PRS takes land matters seriously because this is about individual rights to property,” stressed Masing.
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Soon after Larry Sng gave his statement that he vows to lead PRS, the other faction of PRS reminded him that he is treading on soft ground and is asked to stop giving the wrong signal to PRS grassroots.
Larry did admit that if the ROS's decision stands, then he will urge members to support James Masing and Barisan Nasional (BN) leadership.
As for himself, since is the other faction leader that is not recognized by ROS, he will be partyless, almost.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Extracted from TheBorneoPost
PRS leadership crisis far from over
By Churchill Edward
Sng asked to disassociate himself with ‘sacked’ officials and stop giving ‘wrong signal’
KUCHING: Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) has asked one of its members, Larry Sng, to stay clear of those whom the party has “sacked”.
Sng, Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department, has been told to do so otherwise he would be sending a wrong signal — that the party is still divided by factions and that he is still the “president”.
PRS secretary-general Wilfred Nissom said it would not be good for Sng to be associated with those already “sacked” including Sidi Munan and Munan Laja.
Nissom said what was already clear was that the Registrar of Societies (RoS) had approved Dato Sri Dr James Jemut Masing as the president.
Masing is also Land Development Minister.
“The so-called Sng’s faction is a non-entity following RoS’ recognition (or approval) of Dato Sri Masing’s sacking of Sidi Munan and Munan Laja with several others on May 25 2006,” Nissom told The Borneo Post yesterday.
“Sidi Munan, Munan Laja together with a number of others, have already been sacked from PRS and this is recognised by RoS. It is therefore not good for Larry Sng to be associated with them,” he reiterated.
Nissom said he was making this very clear because he was unhappy with a recent development in Sibu where Sng appeared to have sent the wrong signal to members when he addressed himself as a faction leader.
Nissom said if Sng continued to address himself as a faction president he could spark another round of quarrel among members.
Yesterday The Borneo Post reported Sng as saying that: “As for me, my mission and vision as a faction leader is to bring all factions in the party together, forge greater unity and create greater stability. I will continue to be in PRS, to be in BN.”
He was quoted when closing a Ngiling Bidai ceremony jointly organised by five PRS divisions namely Nangka, Pelawan, Bukit Assek, Bawang Assan and Katibas on Friday night in Sibu.
Among the 500 people present at the Sibu event were Sidi Munan whom the group (Sibu event) addressed as “secretary-general”, Munan Laja (organising chairman), Jimmy Donald “deputy president” and his son Leon Jimat, “Youth chief”. When contacted yesterday, Sng said PRS leaders should not misconstrue the Sibu event or even feel threatened by it.
Asked whether he recognised Masing as president, Sng responded: “As far as my supporters are concerned, they still recognise me as a leader and want me to work with other PRS leaders.
“I hope the Sibu event is not misconstrued. And I don’t want the others to feel threatened by it. After all we are working in BN.”
Sng said the BN should worry more if PRS supporters started joining PKR or other opposition and that was not in his, Masing’s or BN’s best interest.
“What I want to say is that, there is no denying that PRS has 19 divisions which are aligned to me. At the moment, they want me to lead.
“Their members are also registered members of the party and they are also looking up to me as a leader and want me to continue leading them.
“I would like to see PRS united because at the end of day we (BN) are going to face a stronger opposition in the coming election. At the moment we would not want any of our supporters being marginalised or being neglected.
“In Sibu we reaffirm our group of supporters that we remain intact. I’ve sent a strong message to them that we are supporting the government,” he said, adding that Masing did not try hard enough to unite all party members.
Sng said: “Although RoS has issued a vague letter in support of Dr Masing, there has not been any initiative on his part to reunite the party, which in the opinion of my supporters, is like marginalising them from the BN as a whole.”
“So this has resulted in a power vacuum which the opposition can capitalise on. This is what I am totally against.
Since April or May 2008, things seemed to be so quiet for PRS until Friday.
The RoS had apparently issued four letters to PRS, including one addressed to “deputy president” Datuk Sng Chee Hua, Sng’s father, on April 1, 2008.
The original letter containing the decision of the Registrar, Datuk Alias Md Kalil, not to deregister PRS was sent to the PRS “secretary” at the party’s registered headquarters at Green Heights Commercial Centre.
Three others were ‘cc’ to Sng, the “president” Dato Sri Dr James Masing and “treasurer” Clement Eddy. Only the “secretary” was not named.
There were actually two pages with the Registrar’s decision on the first page, while the second page contained the people the letter was copied too.
Masing then claimed that senior Sng was no more party deputy president even though the letter was addressed to him as such.
He said that senior Sng’s position in the letter was just an administrative matter.
“You must remember the showcause letter was addressed to him too when he was the deputy president and so when the reply came back, it must go to who the letter was sent to. These are administrative matters, it is not political.
“To think that it is still the same, you must be dreaming,” he told reporters after a private meeting with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, along with four of his supreme council members.
The April 1 letter contained Alias’ decision on a showcause letter his predecessor had sent PRS on Sept 7, 2006, following the sacking of six principal office bearers by Masing in May that year.
Those sacked included junior Sng, who was then the deputy secretary general. Senior Sng and several others had complaint to the RoS and this led to the issuance of the showcause letter.
Alias decided on April 1 that he was satisfied with the reply given by Masing on Sept 15, 2007 as to why he had sacked the office bearers and, therefore, PRS would not be deregistered.
The registrar had also told The Borneo Post later on that Masing was PRS president.
Then Alias said Masing was still the PRS president and explained that the April 1 letter, which contained his decision not to deregister PRS, was written in response to the reply given by Masing in his capacity as PRS president on Sept 15, 2006.
“That’s how it is. Dato Sri Dr James Masing is still the president. I think my explanation in the letter is already clear enough and I do not want to add anything more,” he said when contacted in Kuala Lumpur.
When the PRS crisis first erupted, the battle was between Masing and senior Sng. Eventually senior Sng stepped aside after his group held a delegates’ conference in which his son was elected as president.
Masing too held his own delegates conference and subsequently, there were two presidents in PRS with separate supreme councils. Masing’s deputy president is Joseph Entulu.
PRS was born out of the demise of Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak on Oct 21, 2004, following a leadership crisis.
Until today Masing has not decided to expel Sng from the party, saying he wanted to check the feeling on the ground about the matter.
In April, Sng said he would only recognise Masing as the president if this is indeed the decision of RoS Alias.
He said he would abide by the registrar’s decision even if that meant that he was expelled from the party by Masing and his supreme council after he did not reply to a showcause letter from them earlier last year.
“If the RoS’ decision stands, then I will urge members to support Dato Sri James Masing. I hope they will also maintain their support for the Barisan Nasional (BN) leadership.
“If such chain of events stands, I am now partyless,” Sng said then.
The saga of Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) leadership dispute continue. Despite the ongoing effort of Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) and the other faction of PRS lead by James Masing to merge the two party, Larry Sng vows to continue leading PRS (or the other half of PRS). This is definitely confusing the already confused grassroot members of PRS.
Merger talks between SPDP and PRS (Masing's faction) literally left Larry Sng on the sideline and his time on PRS numbered. Suppose the two parties really merged, there will likely be no place for Larry Sng in the new entity and that would probably be the end of Larry Sng political career, unless of course if he jump ship before that and continue his political struggle with non-Sarawak party or maybe an opposition party.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Extracted from TheBorneoPost
Sng vows to continue leading PRS
By Gaing Kunding
SIBU: The leader of a faction in Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) Larry Sng Wei Shien reiterated his commitment to lead the party with greater zest and vigor to help Barisan Nasional achieve a bigger win in the next state election.
He said that PRS, as a member of the ruling BN coalition, needed to work harder and smarter for the developments of Sarawak, particularly in helping Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud to meet the vision, mission and objectives of Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE).
“As for me, my mission and vision as a faction leader is to bring all factions in the party together, forge greater unity and create greater stability. I will continue to be in PRS, to be in BN.
“To me, the March 8 polls is a milestone for the opposition, but the next state election which is due in two to three years’ time will be a milestone for the BN,” Sng said at the Gawai closing (ngiling bidai) jointly organised by five PRS divisions in the central region - Nangka, Pelawan, Bukit Assek, Bawang Assan and Katibas – last Friday.
Members from six ‘outstation’ divisions - Lingga, Simanggang, Meluan, Balai Ringin, Pelagus and Ngemah, former Sri Aman MP who is also deputy president Jimmy Donald, vice-president Cr Munan Laja (organising chairman), secretary-general Sidi Munan and Youth chief Leon Jimat Donald were among the 500-odd people present.
Sng said: “PRS leaders and members also need to reflect on their roles and purposes in BN, taking into consideration the results of the last general election, as well as the implication of the letter given by ROS recently. Where do we go next?” He however did not specifically mention which ROS letter he was referring to.
In his welcoming speech, Munan expressed gladness at the big attendance, saying: “This reflects the strong unity and support for Larry Sng, an Assistant Minister in Chief Minister’s Department, from PRS members throughout the state.”
Jimmy, who also spoke, said that he would continue his political struggle and serve the people through PRS and BN even though he was no longer an MP.
Sidi meanwhile reminded party members to abide by the party constitution at all times.
Most detractors of MIC or Samy Vellu have grudgingly acknowledge that ‘Samy Vellu is MIC, and MIC is Samy Vellu’. That's mean, once Samy Vellu left the party for retirement, there is likely no suitable or capable candidate to take over the leadership of MIC.
MIC now is in a shamble and headless. It's foundation has been destroyed after the result of the General Election 2008 that resulted in severe loss for their heavy weight. As a result, Indian MPs from MIC representation in the Parliament as well as the Cabinet has been greatly reduced. And Samy Vellu is responsible to this mess.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Extract: Bernama
Who will lead MIC after Samy Vellu?
Departure date set, but answer to this question a mystery
KUALA LUMPUR: Who is set to take over as MIC president from Datuk Seri S Samy Vellu
The answer to this question, as always, continues to be shrouded in mystery. This is despite the man - who helmed the largest Indian-based political party since 1981 - having announced that the recent general election was his last and he would vacate his party position, come 2012.
But, one must remember that this is a man who runs the MIC with an iron fist and brookes no nonsense, causing some detractors to grudgingly acknowledge that ‘Samy Vellu is MIC, and MIC is Samy Vellu’.
Although there are a few potential candidates who can fill in the shoes of the MIC supremo, the absence of a succession “talk” in the party has added to the mystery on who would eventually takeover from Samy Vellu and face the immense task of reviving the party which lost six parliamentary seats and 13 state constituencies in the March 8 general election.
To worsen matters, the former works minister, by his own admission at the party’s 62nd annual general assembly in Putra World Trade Centre on Saturday, revealed that the 630,000-member strong MIC did not have a secession plan but “would leave it to the grassroots to chose their next leader.”
“The grassroots can elect their next leader. There is no such thing as an automatic succession plan in MIC. The grassroots can elect whoever they want,” he said.
His latest remark, according to political observers, is a departure from what he had announced after the party polls in 2006, when he voiced support for his former press secretary Datuk G Palanivel, who beat longtime incumbent deputy president Datuk S Subramaniam to become the party’s number two.
However, Samy Vellu’s most recent stance is likely to open the floodgates for aspiring candidates to vie for the deputy presidency at the party polls next year, knowing very well that the person who wins the race is likely to replace Samy Vellu at the next party elections would be after the planned departure of the MIC supremo.
This, observers say, is likely to lead to more politicking in the MIC, and thus, adding to the “misery” suffered by the party at the recent general election.
“It appears that not only is the party facing a decline in support but also emerging as one of very few Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties void of a succession plan. It reflects very badly on the current leadership,” a party insider, who declined to be named, told Bernama.
Other BN components like MCA and Umno have announced or seem to have a succession plan but this issue was not even raised at the one-day MIC annual general assembly held at the Putra World Trade Centre.
However, the focus of the general assembly was instead, on re-branding the party and its idealogies and the lack of discussion on the succession plan had irked some quarters.
Would Samy Vellu heed the message sent by MIC coalition partners that he should consider early retirement, despite making a stand to hand over power by 2012?
However, the vocal and outspoken ‘Thalaivar’ (leader in Tamil) as Samy Vellu is affectionately known, also threw another mind-boggling statement at the assembly when he said: “I would leave the decision of re-electing me as party president in the next party election, to the 3,600 branch chairmen.
“When there is an election, the question of automatically becoming a president goes off. I don’t think anything can happen without an election,” he said.
These statements by Samy Vellu have added more “confusion” to the already-confused MIC members, as not only was a successor not been identified, but they are not sure if the party chief would vacate his post, come 2012.
His detractors feel that his latest statement was “as rhetoric as before” since it does not have any significant meaning as he is likely to be renominated and win the top post uncontested.
Several grassroots leaders speaking to Bernama, on condition of anonymity, say that it was very unlikely that Samy Vellu would be challenged as “nobody dares to do that”.
“Whoever tries to go for the top leadership, he or she will be chopped off. That is why nobody dares to speak up,” said a leader who repeatedly asked not to be identified.
Some argued that the signal from the grassroots “is very clear that they are not too happy” with Samy Vellu’s decision to stay on until 2012 and that he should soon hand over power to his deputy.
However, when this question was posed to Samy Vellu yesterday, he brushed it aside saying: “If they are unhappy with me, they wouldn’t come for the meeting.”
However, some party leaders are not too concerned about the succession plan or whether Samy Vellu should stay on until 2012.
Seremban branch chairman Datuk M Muthupalaniappan, also a former MIC vice-president, said although succession was important, the priority now should be to strengthen the party through its re-branding exercise.
He believes the MIC can regain its support among the 1.8 million Malaysian Indian community, regardless whether there was a transition plan for the top leadership.
“The assurance by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to help the Indian community, especially in education, will help the MIC. That is more important than who takes over the party.
“Education is the key to success and the country’s progress depends on the people. The step taken by the government will help the Indian community progress on par with the other races,” he said.
Selangor MIC Wanita secretary J Malika believes that with or without transition of leadership, MIC would still regain its strength. She said there were many leaders in the MIC who were capable of helping and developing the community.
“Rebranding comes with new ideas and the leaders now have a clear idea on ways to aid the community. We will leave it to the president to handle it and we believe that he has the capacity and capability to do it,” she added.
The presidency issue of Parti Rakyat Sarawak continue. We all thought the Larry Sng's days are numbered when James Masing was declared as the legitimate president of PRS by ROS in early April 2008. We also all thought that James Masing nightmare is over and he is in no hurry to determine the fate of Larry Sng's position in PRS.
In between those time, Jimmy Donald being other deputy president in Larry Sng's faction has been contesting the legitimacy of James Masing as the President of PRS.
Being an unsatisfied lots, Larry Sng's group is requesting an appointment with Registrar of Societies in Putra Jaya to solve the issue once and for all. Should ROS maintained their decision to recognize James Masing as the president of PRS, Larry Sng's group might defect to another party, likely Sarawak National Party or Pakatan Rakyat component parties.
By that time, Larry Sng's faction would be on the opposition team. As for Sarawak Barisan Nasional, the impact would be lost of grassroots supporters. In terms of federal Cabinet position, there is no representative from the Larry Sng's faction. As for the state Cabinet, only Larry Sng himself is the representative in the DUN.
Related posts:
* PRS leadership disputes - Larry Sng not giving up yet
* Crab mentality of Parti Rakyat Sarawak leadership
* PRS remains with two camps
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Source: theborneopost.com/?p=35742 (May 21, 2008)
Is it Larry or Masing?
By Samuel Aubrey
PRS faction seeks appointment with ROS
KUCHING: The leaders and members of the faction aligned to Larry Sng in Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) will only make their next political move once they have received an answer from Registrar of Societies (ROS) on the legitimacy of Sng as party president.
The group met yesterday at the party’s headquarters at Green Height here where they decided to ask for an appointment with ROS in Putrajaya to find out whether the president is Larry or rival Dato Sri Dr James Masing.
One of Larry’s strongest allies, Jimmy Donald, told reporters here yesterday that this decision, one way or the other, would end the confusion over who is president and allow the faction’s members to move on and chart their political future.
“We herewith reiterate our support for YB Larry as president unless ROS rules otherwise,” he said, reading a prepared press statement.
Jimmy, who is the faction’s deputy president, was joined by the faction’s secretary-general Sidi Munan during the press conference.
According to Sidi, the meeting yesterday was attended by leaders from the 19 out of 28 party divisions that recognised Larry as president.
Asked by reporters on their possible political move if the ROS’ decision is not in their favour, Sidi said: “We will cross the bridge when we come to it. We will continue to be in politics. We can’t let our grassroots members down.”
In the statement released to reporters during the press conference, it was mentioned that the faction had yet to receive any written reply from ROS to its letter sent on April 7.
“On April 8 this year, we wrote to ROS requesting that he produced in writing his decision: Dr James or Larry as president of PRS. We reminded him to do so on April 30, 2008. No answer in writing from ROS has been received as of today,” it said.
The ROS, in an April 1 letter signed by its present bearer Datuk Md Alias Kalil, had decided not to deregister PRS after studying the reasons or excuses put forward by Masing’s side on the sacking of six PRS principal office bearers.
Parti Rakyat Sarawak leadership crisis is nearing the end and so is Larry Sng's time. James Masing after being declared as the legitimate president of PRS by ROS is gaining support from their party member and is in no hurry to decide on the fate of Larry Sng whether Larry should be retain in the party or expelled.
Larry Sng faction, meanwhile is still contesting whether the ROS letter is legal to state that Masing is still the president.
The only way for Larry Sng to continue his political career in PRS is for Taib Mahmud to promote him to a full ministership in the coming Sarawak state cabinet reshuffling exercise. And should Larry Sng be relinquished of his assistant ministership, Masing would definitely kill him off. Otherwise, PRS members will consider Larry and his supreme council members as an excess baggage in the party.
Related posts:
* PRS leadership disputes - Larry Sng not giving up yet
* Grassroots confusions within Parti Rakyat Sarawak
Extracted from: theborneopost.com/?p=33953 (Apr 13, 2008
Masing in no hurry to decide on Sng
By James Ling
KAPIT: Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president Dato Sri Dr James Masing said Friday night that he would not make any hasty decision on the status of Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department Larry Sng’s re-admission into PRS.
“I cannot make a decision now. I still have to wait for a while. Let the dust settle down first and let the people think rationally rather than with emotion.
“It is better to make the decision when everything has settled down,” said Masing, who is Land Development Minister when asked to comment on Sng’s status in PRS.
He had earlier attended a gathering hosted by the police in connection with the recent 201st Police Day celebration at the multi-purpose hall here.
The PRS president said he had plenty of time (to make the decision).
“What is important is that ROS has made a decision and we have to respect that decision. What I’m going to do now is to bring the party to move forward and do what a political party should do,” he said.
Masing had earlier, after being declared the legitimate president of PRS, decided to seek the opinion of the grassroots on whether or not to re-admit Sng into the party after he and nine others had been expelled from the party.
To date, Masing has received the support of 25 of the 28 branches/divisions state-wide which had rejected the re-admission of Sng into the party.
On Friday afternoon, PRS Baleh, PRS Pelagus (aligned to Masing) and PRS Katibas branches/divisions joined 22 other PRS divisions to adopt a motion opposing Sng’s admission into the party.
At a joint meeting of the three branches/divisions (PRS Baleh, Pelagus and Katibas) at its headquarters along Jalan Penghulu Nyanggau here on Friday, Hulu Rejang member of parliament Billy Abit Joo said PRS Belaga branch/division was expected to convene a meeting tentatively on Apr 21 for a similar purpose.
There seems to be some confusions within Parti Rakyat Sarawak grassroots. Initial report indicates that PRS have 28 registered divisions.
Now, the Masing faction indicates that there are 23 divisions supporting Masing (i.e agreed to expelled Larry from the party). Meanwhile, the faction aligned to Larry Sng mentioned that 19 divisions are supporting Larry. So is it 28 divisions or 42 divisions.
The support of Larry also have new meaning. Some of the divisions supporting Larry, agreed that Masing is the president of PRS and Larry should not be fired from the party. On the other hand. the other group of divisions supporting Larry, insist that Larry is the legitimate president of PRS.
This PRS leadership crisis is turning into a comedy saga. PRS leaders and their supreme council(S) are confused with the number of their divisions. And so are their supporters and observers (like your truly).
Related posts:
* PRS leadership disputes - Larry Sng not giving up yet
* Masing keeping Larry Sng for the money
Extracted from: theborneopost.com/?p=33849
More PRS divisions want Larry expelled (Apr 11, 2008)
KUCHING: Three other Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) divisions, namely Dudong in Sibu, Bukit Sari and Ba Kelalan in Lawas have declared their rejection of Larry Sng.
Through a press statement yesterday, Dudong divisional chairman Petrus Ngelai and secretary Dr Johnny Kieh said they fully supported party president Dato Sri Dr James Jemut Masing.
“This division agrees that there is no need for PRS to take back Larry (Sng) and members of his faction because the party can work effectively without them,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, Bukit Sari and BaKelalan divisions wanted Larry out of the party in a joint press statement signed by their respective chairmen Junaidi Kamit and William Sapak Agung.
PRS has only 28 divisions but on Thursday conflicting statements began to emerge from the grassroots, pointing to the simmering rivalry between Masing and Larry.
As 23 divisions said they wanted Larry expelled while 19 divisions claiming to be duly registered divisions of the party said Larry is still party president.
Grassroots decision is being solicited following the party’s May 5 supreme council meeting which agreed to sack Larry and nine others, including his father Datuk Sng Chee Hua, from the party.
But Masing put the expulsion on hold, saying the grassroots must first be consulted.
However, it now appears that PRS will have to contain with not just 28 but at least 42 party divisions!
After the Registrar of Societies has given the letter to both camps to announce that Parti Rakyat Sarawak will not be deregistered, the press to ROS Alias Md Kalil to inquire on the president seat (Alias Md Kalil verbally stated the Masing is still the president of PRS).
Alias confirmed that Masing is still the president and after that, Larry Sng conceded defeat. Being a gentleman, Masing opt for majority votes where the grassroots of PRS will determined whether Larry Sng should be booted out from the party.
The supreme council members of Larry Sng camp meanwhile are kicked out of the party without second thought by Masing and his supporters.
Larry Sng when conceding the defeat, has requested his faction member to recognize and support Masing. A dream come true for Masing. He has survived the party factional crisis, reinstated at the party president and regain support from this "arch enemy".
~!@%#) ... dream breaker. Suddenly, the faction behind Larry Sng take to the task to dispute the
pronouncements made by the Registrar of Societies, Datuk Alias Md Kalil, through the press that Masing was the PRS president. The big honcho in that faction are Jimmy Donald and Larry Sng's father (Sng Senior).
Now, it look like Masing and Larry Sng are relief that PRS is still around and Larry Sng has given up the presidency. But not when Jimmy Donald and Sng Senior is around. It seems that Jimmy Donald and Sng Senior will not give up hope for Larry to the president of PRS. It seems that Larry Sng is subject to puppetry move controlled by Jimmy Donald and Sng Senior.
Personally, I think Larry Sng is a nice fellow. And yang tamak haloba dan kuasa is not Masing or Larry, but Jimmy Donald and Sng Senior.
References and related articles
PRS still divided over leadership (Apr 10, 2008)
By JACK WONG
KUCHING: Nineteen out of the 28 registered divisions of Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) aligned to Larry Sng Wei Shien do not recognise Datuk Dr James Masing as party president.
Leaders of these divisions have unanimously agreed in a meeting here to continue supporting Larry as the party chief even though he has announced he accepts Dr Masing as party president.
They claimed that the supreme council headed by Larry is the valid one.
Larry did not attend the meeting at PRS registered headquarters at Green Height Commercial Centre but his father Datuk Sng Chee Hua, also advisor to the group, was present.
Former Sri Aman MP Jimmy Donald, Larry's righthand man, said the group had written to the Registrar of Societies (ROS) to ask for a list of the rightful party supreme council members to clear the confusion.
Dr Masing has said that the recent reply by Registrar Datuk Md Alias Kalil that the ROS would not deregister PRS confirmed him as the party chief and that his supreme council was valid.
Dr Masing's supreme council had at its meeting last Saturday upheld an earlier decision to expel nine leaders aligned to Larry. They include Chee Hua, Donald, party's secretary-general Sidi Munan, deputy information chief Ernest Chua.
Dr Masing is seeking feedback from the party's grassroots on whether to remove or retain Larry, also state Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister's Department, in the party.
Several divisions aligned to Dr Masing have since made a stand that they wanted Larry out of the party.
Donald demanded an apology from Dr Masing's supporters over what he claimed as defamatory remarks they have made against Larry’s camp.
''We treat them (Dr Masing's supporters) as party colleagues and our friends despite our political differences,'' he said.
Larry still president of PRS: Faction aligned to Sng (Apr 10, 2008)
By Raynore Mering
KUCHING: The Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) crisis is still not over as the faction led by Larry Sng yesterday claimed that theirs is still the legitimate supreme council and Sng still the president.
To add to that, 19 divisions, said to be legally registered with the Registrar of Societies (ROS) and aligned to Sng, had unanimously agreed not to recognise Dato Sri Dr James Masing as PRS president.
Heads of the 19 divisions met with members of Sng’s supreme council yesterday at the party’s registered headquarters at Green Heights Commercial Centre.
Larry could not attend the meeting but his father, Datuk Sng Chee Hua, was present.
The faction’s deputy president, Jimmy Donald, told a press conference after the meeting: “As far as we are concerned, our supreme council is still the legal one.”
He said they were not convinced by pronouncements made by the Registrar of Societies, Datuk Alias Md Kalil, through the press that Masing was the PRS president.
Therefore, he said they would be writing to Alias to ask for the legal list of PRS supreme council members.
He said their letter would be couriered to Alias after the press conference.
At the same time, Jimmy said the 19 divisions, which represent 23,768 members, would be writing to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud on the same matter.
He added that the 19 divisions hoped that Masing would not manufacture overlapping and illegal divisions.
“We have read lately that there seems to be divisions coming up all over the place because the legal headquarters is here. The legal and recognised secretary general Sidi Munan is here,” said Jimmy.
He also asked leaders in Masing’s camp to apologise for making some allegedly “libelous” comments about them in the press.
He said he was saddened by their comments because they considered Masing’s people their friends and colleagues despite their political differences.
“They used words like ‘virus’ and ‘unhealthy bacteria’. We hope and we want them to apologise to us. If not we will be taking legal action against them. We should be friends so it is with much regret that we resort to this but we do not like extreme words to be used,” Jimmy said.
Alias had confirmed that Masing is still the president in a front-page report in The Borneo Post on April 4.
He made the confirmation after issuing a letter on April 1 on his decision not to deregister PRS.
Alias had explained that his decision was based on a reply to a showcause letter given by Masing in the latter’s capacity as PRS president on Sept 15, 2006.
“That’s how it is. Dato Sri Dr James Masing is still the president. I think my explanation in the letter is already clear enough and I do not want to add anything more,” he said when contacted in Kuala Lumpur.
Alias said in the letter that he was satisfied with the reply given by Masing on why he had sacked six principal office bearers in May 2006, which led to the showcause letter being issued.
Following Alias’ decision and confirmation, Masing had said that there was now no more dispute as to who was the president of PRS and which supreme council was legitimate.
His supreme council had upheld the expulsion of nine PRS members – Datuk Sng Chee Hua, Sidi Munan, Jimmy Donald, Munan Laja, Ernest Chua, George Lagong, Ong Lark Sai, Audie Chua and Josephine Randan Mawat - last Saturday.
However, Masing said they had decided to hold back Larry’s expulsion until the grassroots had given their opinion on whether Larry should be retained as a member.
Larry is the Pelagus assemblyman and an assistant minister.
All of PRS’ elected representatives, except Larry, are now members of Masing’s supreme council.
Despite questions about Masing’s position, the Barisan Nasional has accorded Masing recognition as a president of a component party.
The PRS crisis erupted soon after the May 2006 state polls.
Larry and Masing and their supreme councils were elected at separate triennial delegates conferences.
Tamin, Kakus divisions also want Sng out (Apr 09, 2008)
SELANGAU: More and more Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) divisions now want the former president of its other faction, Larry Sng Wei Shien, expelled from the party.
Yesterday, the Tamin and Kakus divisions held their extraordinary meetings (EGMs) to join in the chorus of expulsion.
Earlier, nine other divisions namely Senadin, Pujut and Lambir in Miri, Tebedu in Kuching, Limbang, Pakan, Meluan and Meradong in Sarikei, and Ngemah had also held their EGMs to come up with similar resolutions.
The move came about after the Registrar of Societies (ROS) recognised Dato Sri Dr James Jemut Masing who is the Land Development Minister and Balleh assemblyman, as its legal president last week.
The ROS too, decided not to de-register the state’s youngest BN component member, following a two-year leadership struggle between Sng who is Pelagus assemblyman and an assistant minister in the Chief Minister’s Department and Masing and their respective supreme council members.
According to Dali Merawin, the chairman of the Tamin division, both his and the Kakus divisions were unanimous in their resolutions for Sng to be shown the door.
The Kakus branch was represented by its deputy chairman James Watt and the party vice-president Joseph Mauh Ikeh who is Tamin assemblyman and its Youth wing secretary general Alexander Kadir Dato were among those present.
Dali said they were confident Masing would helm PRS and take Dayak political unity to new and greater heights, now that he had no major obstacle standing in his way.
PRS, an off-shoot of the now-defunct Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS), was de-registered for similar leadership crisis, was formed on Oct 21, 2004, the same day the party was deregistered.
It has 28 divisions statewide and so far, only the Pelagus division has stood firm behind Sng. — Bernama
PRS Senadin, Ngemah, Pujut and Lambir divisions say no to Sng (Apr 07, 2008)
By Samuel Aubrey
KUCHING: The Senadin, Ngemah, Pujut and Lambir divisions of Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) yesterday unanimously agreed not to accept Pelagus assemblyman Larry Sng as a member of the party.
The four divisions became the first group to declare their stand on Sng following instructions from the PRS supreme council on Saturday to let the grassroots members decide on the future of Sng in the party.
Sng’s expulsion from the party had actually been unanimously decided during Saturday’s supreme council meeting, but party president Dato Sri Dr James Jemut Masing said it was being put on hold until after he received the decision from the grassroots.
PRS deputy information chief Richard Wil Uban, speaking on behalf of the four divisions, said the chairmen, deputy chairmen and other office-bearers of all these four divisions had met at the PRS Service Centre in Pujut, Miri yesterday afternoon.
Apart from Wil who is also the PRS Senadin chairman, the other chairmen present at the packed meeting were PRS Lambir chairman Pandang Semat, PRS Pujut chairman Bangga Tinggom and PRS Ngemah chairman Peter Talajan.
“Having received instructions from party headquarters to decide on Larry Sng’s status, we the following divisions – Senadin, Ngemah, Pujut and Lambir – have considered and unanimously agreed not to accept him as member of PRS,” he said when contacted. Wil issued a press statement on behalf of PRS Senadin, which was faxed to The Borneo Post yesterday evening.
Apart from reiterating that the division has resolved not to accept Sng as a PRS member, he said PRS Senadin members were relieved that the party’s leadership crisis had been resolved after the Registrar of Societies Datuk Md Alias Khalil decided against de-registering PRS.
The ROS in an April 1 letter noted that he had decided not to proceed with the action to de-register PRS after he accepted the explanation given by Masing, and a day later ROS confirmed that Masing was still the president.
“The Senadin division congratulates the president Dato Sri Dr James Jemut Masing on the settlement of the factional dispute in the party, and on the recent success in the just concluded parliamentary election,” read the statement.
Wil thanked the state BN leadership for their patience in bearing with PRS throughout this ordeal.
Meanwhile Talajan, on behalf of PRS Ngemah, said Masing and his supreme council members must be congratulated for their tireless effort in fighting for PRS not to be deregistered.
He said the Ngemah division was thankful to ROS for not only replying to Masing, but clarifying on Masing’s position as president of the party.
He added that the Sng camp failed to translate the ROS letter which was also sent to the party’s registered headquarters at Green Heights Commercial Centre which was being occupied by them.
“A prudent and diligent decision by ROS cancelled all doubts and queries pertaining to the PRS inhouse mess created by ambitious individuals through materialistic manipulation.
“Now there will be no more doubts on the legality of PRS and Dato Sri Dr James Jemut Masing as the legitimate party president,” noted the statement.
Talajan hoped the bitter months of crisis in the party would be taken as a lesson to remind party members, and as a future guideline so members and leaders would be cautious and careful in making judgements or decisions.
He said the Ngemah division committee members and supporters strongly oppose any acceptance of Larry Sng as a PRS member.
On another note, the PRS Ngemah division thanked Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud for regarding PRS as a viable party even though it had been riddled with longterm internal crisis.
“PRS is now alive and a strong BN component partner. We have proved that in the just concluded election, we delivered all the six parliament seats to BN with two seats won uncontested – Selangau and Kanowit,” he said.
In the coming days, more statements are expected from PRS divisions as the grassroots leaders from all 29 divisions will want to have their say on the position of Sng, as well as express their relief and appreciation that the party is spared de-registration.
Being reaffirmed as the president of Parti Rakyat Sarawak with ROS decision to maintain status quo of PRS and Masing meet up with Badawi recently, Masing still have soft spot for Larry Sng by letting the grassroots of the party to determine the fate of Larry Sng.
Masing does not dismiss Sng outright but giving him a chance by letting the grassroots decide. This is because Masing still need Sng.
However, except for Sng himself, his committee members are not being spared and have been dismiss from the party. As Masing mentioned, Sng is an elected representative and if Sng is out of the party, PRS would lose one seat in the state cabinet. In addition, Sng and his father is a big sponsor to PRS. And the other reason why Masing would like to keep Sng is because Sng have the money.
PRS is one of the mosquito party of Sarawak Barisan Nasional and being small, fund are limited. Moving around their constituencies in the remote corner of Sarawak can be very costly and without money, they cannot move to service their supporters.
For Sng, if he decided to rejoin PRS, he have give Masing his undying support and have to take a backstage stand while Masing have to be very wary of Sng every movement, just in case Sng mounted another mutiny. If Sng decided not to rejoin PRS, that would mean the end of this political career, unless he have a change of mind to join either DAP or PKR.
Extracted from: theborneopost.com/?p=33624 (Apr 06, 2008)
Sng’s PRS fate with grassroots: Masing
By Samuel Aubrey
KUCHING: Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) supreme council has now left it to their grassroots members to decide on the future of Larry Sng in the party.
Party president Dato Sri Dr James Jemut Masing said yesterday that Sng’s expulsion from the party was being put on hold until after he had the decision from the grassroots.
The supreme council, in its meeting yesterday, in fact unanimously rejected Sng as a PRS member but Masing said Sng ought to be given another chance mainly because he was an elected representative.
“We give him another chance by asking the grassroots to give their opinions on whether to sack him or admit him back to the party,” he said at a press conference after the supreme council meeting at the headquarters in Jalan Pending here.
Masing said PRS as a political party did not depend solely on the supreme council because its real strength actually lay in the grassroots.
The grassroots in the 29 PRS divisions will soon meet and their decision will then be conveyed through press statements and letters to the party and the president.
“If I disobey the grassroots, then we will be in big trouble because they will be the ones electing us later on. You know what happens when the grassroots don’t want you. The result of the just-concluded general election is the best example,” he said.
While Sng is given a reprieve, the same cannot be said of the nine PRS leaders including his father (and ex-deputy president Dato Sng Chee Hua), who were sacked from the party during the triennial general assembly in Sibu in Dec 2, 2006.
Apart from Sng, the others expelled by the general assembly – which is PRS highest decision making body – were Sidi Munan, Jimmy Donald, Munan Laja, Ernest Chua, George Lagong, Dr Ong Lark Sai, Athanasius Audie Chua and Josephine Mawat.
Masing said these nine were no longer members of the party after they failed to reply to the show-cause letters issued to them in April last year.
These letters were either delivered by hand or registered mail.
As far as Masing is concerned, there is no chance for these nine to rejoin the party and they have no locus standi in the party because of their sackings.
“They can reapply if they want to. They can try their luck,” he said.
Sng was in fact sacked during the same general assembly but Masing offered him the vice president’s post instead. This was rejected by Sng. Then Masing offered him the post of information chief so that he could be in the supreme council.
Again, this was refused and even ridiculed by Sng.
Masing responded by issuing him a show-cause letter on April 9 last year for bringing disrepute to the party.
“This is the third time I am going to give him a chance but this time I am listening to the grassroots. If the grassroots say take him back, I take him back,” he said, adding that the decision would be taken as soon as all the divisions had responded.
Asked why there seemed to be special attention given to Sng, Masing said: “I have been very kind to Larry because I put him up as an elected representative in the first place. I have been kind to this young man.”
Sng, who is Pelagus assemblyman and an assistant minister, was PRS deputy secretary general until mid 2006.
He was among the six members sacked from the supreme council by Masing, but he and Wilfred Nissom were re-appointed with new designations in the party.
Sng and his group then held their own triennial delegates conference early last year. He was elected president and thenceforth PRS had two presidents and two separate supreme councils.
Masing said although he deemed this a direct challenge and defiance against his leadership and him, he was still giving Sng another chance.
“We give Larry a lot of chances … not out of spite … but to help him. But he’s got to know how to help himself. He’s got to know his position in any organisation,” he said.
“I have been very magnanimous in all circumstances. I have gone all the way to save the young man but he hasn’t reciprocated in the manner that I expected,” he said.
In the same breath, Masing also wondered if Sng would do the same to him if the situation were reversed.
“What do you think he would do to me? Until April 3, Larry still said I was sacked, and that I was partyless,” he said, adding that although Sng had declared his support for him, he had doubts whether his supporters would do likewise.
On Friday Sng reportedly said that he would urge his supporters to support Masing whose presidency was officially confirmed by the Registrar of Societies Datuk Md Alias Kalil.
James Masing the president of Parti Rakyat Sarawak has been resurrected from the dead. I mean the dead presidentship.
Registrar of Societies Datuk Md Alias Kalil confirmed yesterday that James Masing is the legitimate president of PRS. ROS before this have submitted their official letter indicating that the PRS is off the hook (will not be registered) but ROS never indicate their recognition on which person is the legitimate president of the party in that latter. That's why confusion still arise even after the official announcement that PRS will not be registered.
Previously, both Masing and Larry have been having a family squabble insisting that each one is the party president. Both argue on the legitimacy of the party presidency status for over a year. ROS, Taib Mahmud and even Badawi just stand together with the spectator watching the show instead of dealing with the problem direct. It was a crab mentality on their part.
Back to the real world now. So Masing is on the winning side and Larry being the loser is confirmed to be expelled and Larry is now partyless. But in actual fact, PRS is the big loser not Larry Sng. PRS no doubt is seeing a new dawn with Masing as the confirmed president and he need to decide on what to do with his opposing camp lead by Larry.
PRS will start new but probably without its other half, assuming Larry Sng and his camp members totally abandoned PRS and create yet another splinter party or join the real Opposition parties (likely to join DAP or PKR). If that happen PRS will be severely weaken.
Assuming Larry Sng and his group reconcile with Masing and re-pledge their undying support for Masing, Masing would have better support on the surface. Deep inside, the scar will takes time to heal and who knows, Larry Sng might just ambush Masing when the next opportunity call by.
Extracted from: theborneopost.com/?p=33525 (Apr 04, 2008)
Masing is PRS president
By Samuel Aubrey
That’s how it is. Dato Sri Dr James Masing is still the president: ROS
KUCHING: Dato Sri Dr James Jemut Masing is the legitimate president of Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), Registrar of Societies Datuk Md Alias Kalil confirmed yesterday.
With this confirmation by the ROS, the protracted party crises appears to have been resolved.
Contacted at his office in Putrajaya, Alias said Masing was still the PRS president and explained that the April 1 letter, which contained his decision not to deregister PRS, was written in response to the show cause reply given by Masing in his capacity as PRS president on Sept 15, 2006.
“That’s how it is. Dato Sri Dr James Masing is still the president. I think my explanation in the letter is already clear enough, and I do not want to add anything more,” said Alias during the telephone interview.
Since Alias confirmed that Masing is PRS president, all decisions he and his supreme council had made from the time of the sacking until now are deemed valid.
This means that Larry Sng and nine others had been expelled from the party because Masing’s supreme council had expelled them early last year.
Masing also told The Borneo Post on Wednesday that he would be holding a supreme council meeting tomorrow, after which, he would be able to give a clearer picture about his party’s rejuvenation plans.
When asked if he would reinstate Sng and nine others, he said he would have to discuss this with his supreme council members as well as the state BN leadership. Sng is an assistant minister as well as assemblyman.
Letters containing Alias’ decision were hand-delivered on Wednesday by two ROS officers from Kuala Lumpur to Masing at his office in Petra Jaya at 10am and to the party’s registered headquarters at Green Heights Commercial Centre.
The decision was on the show cause letter that Alias’ predecessor had issued the party after Masing had sacked six of PRS’ principal office-bearers on May 25, 2006. The show cause letter, which was sent on Sept 7, 2006, warned that the party could be deregistered.
PRS is embroiled in a leadership tussle, with Masing’s camp having its own headquarters in Jalan Pending, while the other camp headed by Sng is occupying the registered headquarters at Green Heights.
Understandably both the Masing and Sng camps have come with their own interpretations that favoured their respective camps. They nonetheless agreed that the party was now safe.
In the first paragraph of the three-paragraph letter, which was addressed to the PRS ‘Setiausaha (Secretary)’, Alias referred to a reply given by Masing on Sept 15, 2006, to the show cause letter.
The second paragraph reads: “Dimaklumkan bahawa setelah meneliti alasan-alasan yang dikemukakan oleh pihak YB Dato Sri Dr James Jemut Masing berkaitan pemecatan ahli jawatankuasa Parti Rakyat Sarawak, saya bersetuju tidak meneruskan tindakan pembatalan Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) dibawah Seksyen 13(1)(c)(iv) Akta Pertubuhan 1966.”
The ongoing crisis of leadership for Parti Rakyat Sarawak (a component party of Barisan Nasional) is creating a scene at Sarawak politic. So while the Prime Minister is sleepless at Putra Jaya worrying about the gloomy political scene at Semanjung, it won't be long that he will be having nightmare when more problem (now from Sarawak) started to pile up.
Back to PRS, Datuk Dr James Masing has reiterated that he is THE president of the party. Larry Sng on the other hand still claimed that he is the new president of PRS. Both gentlemen have refused to give up their presidency claim.
While the letter from ROS only confirmed that PRS will not be registered, the crisis of presidency of the PRS remained unsolved.
The current crisis of PRS is just to the liking to Taib Mahmud who like to divide and conquer. When no REAL president of PRS to speak of, PRS will remain useless, go for nothing except to make up the quota.
Without any firmed authority, no camps from PRS is able to make any decision or plan for the future. Both opposing camps, have separate planning and decision making process. So how can PRS be effective to the rakyat and to their members.
Both Masing and Sng are in a deadlock. None of them is willing to surrender. The best possible outcome and resolution to this crisis is to have one of them "killed". Taib Mahmud will not give the order. The best man for the job to solve the PRS crisis would be Badawi.
The PRS mess is partly caused by Larry Sng father and Larry should be scarified and let Masing be the de facto leader of PRS. If it sound unfair, then both camps should have a combined election to vote for the new president.
Thus, if neither Masing or Larry will to die for the party, it's best that both of them agreed to have a party election and elect for the new leaders. If party election is not forthcoming, it will just prove that both Masing and Larry have the crab mentality. A crab mentality a person running sideway from the real problem instead of assaulting the problem directly and solve it once and for all.
Updated posts:
* May 21, 2008: No end in sight for Larry Sng and James Masing
* Apr 04, 2008: Parti Rakyat Sarawak throwing out excess baggages ?
Extracted from: thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/4/3/nation/20080403141440&sec=nation (Apr 03, 2008)
I was not wrong to sack the six, says Dr Masing
By JACK WONG
KUCHING: Datuk Dr James Masing said the Registrar of Societies’ (ROS) decision not to deregister Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) has shown that it was not wrong for him to sack six of the party’s key office bearers 18 months ago.
“My sacking of the six is legal, otherwise the ROS would have deregistered the party,” he said on Thursday.
The six included party secretary-general Sidi Munan, deputy secretary-general Larry Sng Wei Shien and deputy information chief Ernest Chua.
The sacking plunged the Dayak-based party into a leadership crisis. While Dr Masing was retained as party president by his supporters last year, Sng’s faction also separately elected him as the other party president.
Both Dr Masing and Sng have their own supreme councils and run party affairs in separate PRS headquarters.
Dr Masing said the ROS’ latest decision was made based on his explanation to its show-cause letter issued on Sept 15, 2006 on why the party should not be deregistered after he had sacked the six.
Sidi, Sng and Chua have filed complaints with the ROS, claiming that they were wrongly dismissed as Dr Masing had breached party constitutions by not giving them a chance to defend themselves.
Dr Masing said the ROS’ letter, of which he also received a copy (similar to the one received by Sidi on Wednesday), had now cleared any confusion on the party leadership.
“I am the legitimate party president and my supreme council is the only one which is valid. The problem is now settled once and for all,” he claimed.
He said as Sidi’s dismissal was legal, whatever decisions made by the latter after that, including convening a separate party’s triennial delegates’ conference (which elected Sng as president), was null and void.
Dr Masing said he had consulted the state Barisan Nasional leadership on the ROS’ latest decision, and that the matter would be discussed at a supreme council meeting which he would chair on Saturday.
Parti Rakyat Sarawak leadership has been in crisis since over a year ago. Finally, the Registrar of Societies make a decision.
The good news: Registrar of Societies decides not to deregister PRS
The bad news: PRS remains split among two camps lead by Sng and Masing
The decision of ROS to maintain the registration of PRS could be influenced by the Prime Minister since PRS won all her parliamentary seats in the recent Malaysia General Election and maintain PRS is his way of reward.
However, the PM and the BN State Chairman (Taib Mahmud) remains mum on who should be the rightful leader of PRS. The current two camps within PRS is just fine by Taib, who is known for his divide and rule strategy.
Nor ROS, Sarawak BN or the PM had offered no solution to resolve the leadership feud between Sng and Dr Masing. This leadership crisis for PRS is likely to go on forever as none of the camp leader is willing to step down or back down and hand over the leadership to the other person.
Badawi being the Prime Minister and supremo of Barisan Nasional should have fixed this petty issue and abolish the two camps for the sake of PRS unity. Apparently Badawi is not doing his job as he is busy with attacks from the opposition parties in West Malaysia.
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Extracted from: thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/4/2/nation/20080402151937&sec=nation (Apr 02, 2008)
Registrar of Societies decides not to deregister PRS
By JACK WONG
KUCHING: The Registrar of Societies (ROS) has decided not to revoke the registration of Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS).
The decision, which came more than 18 months after it asked the party to show why it should not be dereigstered, was conveyed in a letter to the party's secretary-general Sidi Munan on Wednesday.
The letter dated April 1 and signed by Registrar Datuk Md Alias Kalil, was hand-delivered to Sidi by ROS enforcement division officials at the PRS registered headquarters at Green Heights Commercial Centre here at about 11am.
Larry Sng Wei Shien, who leads one of the PRS factions, said the ROS, in conveying its decision not to deregister the PRS, reminded the party not to breach its constitution again by sacking any members without first issuing them a notice to defend themselves.
The ROS had in its show-cause letter in September 2006 ruled that party president Datuk Dr James Masing had violated Article VIII Clause 15(b) of the party constitution when he fired six key office bearers on May 25, 2006 without giving them a chance to defend themselves.
The six included Sidi, Larry Sng (deputy secretary-general) and lawyer Ernest Chua (deputy information chief).
Sng said the ROS' letter on Wednesday cleared one of the uncertainties on the fate of the party as there was speculation that it would be deregistered.
However, he said the ROS had offered no solution to resolve the leadership feud between him and Dr Masing.
Sng and Dr Masing have been elected party president by their respective camps and they now run party affairs in different offices.
