KUCHING: Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) is positioning itself to become the second largest party in the state Barisan Nasional after Chief Minister Taib Mahmuds Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB).
Leveraging the ongoing leadership tussle and disillusioned members in Sarawak United Peoples Party (SUPP) and Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP), PRS is steadfastly wooing the Dayak community with its image of stability and solidarity.
PRS, which is a comparatively new party, is in its seventh year of existence and has more than 45,000 members, with about 99.9 percent of them rural Dayaks.
It has six Members of Parliament and eight state assemblymen.
SPDP, on the other hand, has four MPs and six assemblymen, SUPP has five MPs and six assemblymen and PBB, which is the lead party in the Sarawak BN coalition, has 14 MPs and 35 assemblymen.
In total, Sarawak BN holds 55 state seats against opposition Pakatan Rakyats 15.
(DAP and PKR have 13 and two assemblyman. One assemblyman, George Lagong, who represents Pelagus constituency, is an independent.)
PRS six MPs are Joseph Salang (MP for Julau), who is also Deputy Information, Communications and Culture Minister; Joseph Entulu (Selangau), who is also Rural and Regional Development Minister; Billy Abit Joo (Ulu Rajang), Aaron Dagang (Kanowit), Masir Kujat (Sri Aman) and William Nyallau (Lubok Antu).
Its eight assemblymen are James Masing, who holds the Baleh seat and is State Land Development Minister, Alexander Vincent (Ngemah), Joseph Mauh (Tamin), John Sikie (Kakus), Mong Dagang (Bukit Bangunan), Snowdan Lawan (Balai Ringin), Liwan Lagang (Belaga) and Malcolm Mussen (Batang Ai).
Dayaks must adapt
Sp! eaking a t the partys seventh anniversary dinner recently, Masing, its president, was very blunt and warned members that they must adapt to the changing political landscape if they want to see the party remain not only strong, but also relevant.
We are facing very organised, focused and determined political foes who have gained public acceptance, he told more than 2,000 members at the dinner.
To his BN partners, he cautioned them that they cannot take for granted any more the support from the rural people although they may be BNs fixed deposit before.
BN must tackle each segment of the society differently and with great care. It would be a mistake if we assume that all Malaysians want the same thing.
We cannot lump rural and urban needs under one request, nor can we bluff and frighten our people to support us by denying them minor rural projects (MRP) funds if they refuse to heed to our requests.
The political landscape has gone beyond MRP. Many candidates and political parties have fallen on the wayside because they failed to change with the times and meet the demands of their constituents, Masing said, adding that more will fall in the years to come if they do not change and adjust to the new political development.
Turbulent history
Masing also spoke of the many obstacles and challenges that the party had faced and overcome in its seven years of existence.
He was referring to a leadership crisis that had almost led the party to deregistration.
It was only saved from such fate with the help of the then prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in April 2009.
Indeed it has a very turbulent history.
PRS was formed following a leadership crisis in Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) following Masings move to team up with Sng Chee Hua to challenge Daniel Tajem and Joseph Salang for the partys two tops in the 2003 party election.
The determination by both sides to win the party leadership had created a deep division within ! the part y so much so that each had its own headquarters with its own president and its own supreme council.
Both camps accused each other of cheating and submitting false annual returns to the Registrar of Societies, and as they did not trust each other, the two camps organised their separate triennial delegates conferences (TDC).
The two camps brought their complaints to the Registrar of Societies.
As they were unable to see eye to eye on how to solve the crisis, PBDS was deregistered on Dec 5, 2003.
The fallout
Tajem and Salang met Abdullah to appeal for reinstatement of PBDS, and they were given another chance to organise another TDC.
When both sides still could not agree to the terms and conditions of holding the proposed TDC, PBDS was deregistered for the second time on Oct 21, 2004, the day when Masings men registered PRS.
Tajem and Salang refused to bring the matter to court.
Meanwhile, Masings party applied to join the Barisan Nasional and was readily accepted. Initially, PRS had difficulty in getting ex-PBDS members to join the party.
But after some time, some leaders in the Tajem camp including elected representatives joined the party.
However, PRS was not that lucky.
As it tried to regroup itself, the party was hit by another crisis when Sng, its deputy president, tried to replace Masing as the president of the party allegedly over some business opportunities.
The Sng group alleged that Masing did not share with them some of the lucrative projects and tenders given to the party.
Backstabbing Sng
As if history was repeating itself, whatever happened to PBDS between 2003 and 2004 happened to PRS in 2006.
Again two factions sprouted within PRS and they each organised their separate TDC, and in the process the two camps elected their own presidents, with two headquarters and two supreme councils.
Masing was elected president of his camp, while Larry ! Sng, who took over from his father, was elected president in his group.
Larry Sng sacked Masing from his party; likewise, Masing sacked Larry Sng and all those who supported him from his party.
The two leaders, however, brought their case to the Registrar of Societies to decide which one of the group was legally elected.
It was only in April 2009 that the registrar recognised Masing and his supreme council as a legally elected entity.
Vocal Masing
Now as the party celebrates its seventh anniversary, many Dayaks, especially former members of the defunct PBDS who have remained partyless, are still harbouring suspicions over Masings motive and are unconvinced of his efforts to fight for the interest of the Dayaks.
They still remember what he did to PBDS which had then become the household word among the Dayak community.
Lately, however, Masing seemed to project himself as the spokesman of the Dayak community when Alfred Jabu, PBB deputy president and Deputy Chief Minister and William Mawan Ikom, SPDP president and Social Development Minister, appeared to be quiet on issues that concerned the Dayaks.
Masing is very vocal on issues such as the lack of Dayaks in the state civil service and the number of Dayaks holding high and important posts in government and government-linked companies.
He has also expressed his views on the perimeter survey of native customary rights (NCR) land, the definition of NCR land, dams, the resettlement of displaced natives, oil palm plantations in native lands and the excessive timber operations and logjam issues.
On some of the more sensitive issues, he privately told BN leaders of his concern and fear that these issues might be exploited by the opposition.
PRS backs court rulings on NCR
It is understood that his party does not agree with the state definition of NCR land which comprises only temuda land (farming land), but agrees with the court definition t! hat NCR includes pulau galau (communal forest), pemakai menua (territorial domain), grave ground, tembawai (land where the old longhouses had been built), farming land, and gardens.
In a recent seminar on NCR land, Masing proposed a new strategy to develop the NCR land such as urging the natives to go for smallholding under government supervision.
Masings biggest problem is to convince the Dayaks, especially the young and educated ones, to support him in order to make PRS the platform to fight for their interest within the BN.
And if he is able to convince them, then Masing may be able to get the ears of Taib.
Otherwise, it only remains as Masings rhetoric merely for the consumption of the public particularly the Dayaks, said a former PBDS Member of Parliament.