KUCHING: The attempt to reactivate the now defunct Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) through the application of PBDS Baru has been described as a futile effort.
Affendi Jeman, the pro-tem chairman of a group to sponsor the entry of Umno into Sarawak said he knows best because he too has thus far failed in getting the Registrar of Societies (ROS) to register another Bumiputera party – Agenda Rakyat Bumiputera Sarawak (ARBS).
The application to register ARBS which was made through Sarawak’s ROS in Kuching was received by the ROS head office in Putrajaya on October 2009.
Affendi Jeman had even met with Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also Umno deputy president, in his effort to push ARBS’s registration.
Yesterday Affendi said: “PBDS is a splinter group of Sarawak National Party (SNAP). The group should have doubled its effort to gather their PBDS members into the original party (SNAP). SNAP was much bigger.”
“Therefore it would be a waste of time to submit application when the future and direction of their application is uncertain,” he added, claiming it would be a futile effort to register PBDS Baru.
On ARBS, Affendi said they had withdrawn its application because they were told that it should have taken ROS only six months to process an application, lamenting that the right thing for ROS to do was to register ARBS first, if they were to register PBDS Baru.
When contacted yesterday, chief political secretary to the chief minister Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah described the effort to revive PBDS as the opposition’s way to disunite Barisan Nasional (BN).
“The opposition will find ways and means to break up the strong unity among the Bumiputeras in Sarawak. The last two elections in the state have shown us that the Bumiputeras were solidly behind BN,” said the Asajaya asemblyman and state BN Backbenchers Club chairman.
Abdul Karim, who is also Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) supreme council member said the move was an attempt to break up Bumiputeras through ‘local Bumi parties’ under whatever name as the opposition had failed to make inroads into Bumiputera areas through West Malaysian-based opposition parties.
“The Bumiputeras in Sarawak however are not easily hoodwinked. They are already seasoned enough to know about the dirty politics of the opposition and they will not be easily swayed by whatever new vehicle the opposition is using,” he said.
Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president Tan Sri Dr James Masing pointed out that the population of Dayaks in the state was somewhat small for another Dayak-based party to be politically viable.
“It is better for us to consolidate under one party. However, I can’t stop them (PBDS Baru sponsor group) from trying to form one more.
“Malaysia practices freedom of association so I wish them all the best,” said Masing, who is Land Development Minister and Baleh assemblyman.
Parti Cinta Malaysia (PCM) state chairman Gabriel Adit said it would only be possible to revive PBDS ala Umno if all Dayaks agreed to come under a single entity.
The name of the new entity is immaterial, he pointed out.
“Good luck to all who want to carry the burden,” said Adit, who at one point of time in his political career was a colleague of Masing in the now defunct PBDS.
However, PBDS Baru pro-tem president Louis Jarau was very optimistic about the new party, saying if ever approved and registered by ROS, it would be neutral and not affiliated with either BN or Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition.
“The main objective for now is to be on our own. PBDS Baru would be neutral as we do not wish to be affiliated to anybody just yet,” he told The Borneo Post when contacted yesterday.
On his take on the possibility of state BN opening its doors to PBDS Baru, the 34-year-old lawyer stated that the matter would be left to its members to decide.
“I simply can’t decide on behalf of the party. It is up to the voice of the majority,” he added.
Jarau also highlighted that the party would not be involved with the general election considering that it was yet to be registered.
Stressing that the main priority would be getting it registered, he said the party would not even be talking about fielding independent candidates come the general election, preferring to observe the political development.
On other matters regarding PBDS Baru, Jarau mentioned that all those involved in establishing the party would rather take each matter ‘one step at a time’.
When asked about recruitment drive, new headquarters and so on, he suggested that the questions be asked another time.
PBDS was deregistered in October 2004 for failing to hold a fresh Triennial Delegates Conference on a date set by the ROS to select a new set of supreme council, following a protracted leadership crisis which divided the party into two factions – one led by Masing, then its information chief and another by its former president Dato Sri Daniel Tajem Miri.
After PBDS was deregistered, Masing’s group set up PRS.