(This story has appeared in Free Malaysia Today)
KUCHING: After severe beating in the last week-end polls, Sarawak National Party (SNAP) has now withdrawn into a corner licking the wounds of its defeat.
“This defeat is not only shameful, but questions are being asked whether the party continues to be relevant or not,” said a former SNAP minister and leader.
The leader who refused to be named was an assistant minister in the good old days of the party in 1970s and 1980s.
All the 27 candidates of the party lost heavily in the rural areas which it claimed to be its traditional home ground and strongholds. Except for Tedong Anak Gunda in Pakan, all of its candidates including its president Edwin Dundang lost their deposits.
Dundang managed to secure 281 votes in the party’s so-called strong hold since September 1963 until November 2002 - a period of 39 years.
In Pakan Tedong Gunda secured 2,741 votes. But the voters had no choice. It was either him of SPDP President William Mawan Ikom.
“Isn’t it shameful to lose badly and to lose all the deposits?” the assistant minister asked.
The recently concluded state election was its second outing (the first was in 2006) after it was forced to leave the Barisan Nasional.
Following this crisis, SNAP’s fortunes began to dip down after nine of its elected representatives and senior party leaders left the party to form Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) due to the leadership crisis in 2002.
SPDP was immediately accepted to join the Barisan Nasional.
Adding to SNAP’s problem was the fact that it had been deregistered by the Registrar of Societies as a result of the crisis, but it appealed for stay of execution.
Following the court of appeal decision to remove the ROS’s order (deregistration) in June last year, SNAP started to rebrand and rejuvenate itself to become the party of the future.
Its programme of rebranding in January 2011 and February attracted a number of ex-Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) leaders as well as some financiers from peninsular Malaysia.
But things were not moving even though some financial resources had been given to them. Their lack of planning and slow moving forced some financial supporters to withdraw. Potential and educated Dayak leaders were reluctant to join the party.And yet their leaders talked big saying that SNAP should be dominant party in Sarawak and not Parti Keadilan Rakyat and not DAP.
“We must be given the leading role in Sarawak Pakatan Rakyat,” said its President.
“The party with its glorious past and representing the Dayak community should take the lead. Therefore SNAP felt insulted by PKR which wanted us to contest in only three seats,” he said.
“We have all the branches over the state with a membership of 123,000,” he said, declaring that it would contest in all Dayak majority seats.
Even it asked for 48 seats including the 29 Dayak majority seats.
PKR, a peninsular-based party, should stay away from these constituencies, he said.
SNAP secretary general Stanley Jugol suggested that PKR candidates should contest using SNAP’s symbol.
“We are more popular than PKR,” he said.
Of course PKR was not fool as it knew its strength. After all it has been preparing to contest against the state Barisan Nasional since 2006.
SNAP blamed PKR for the failed negotiation and left Pakatan Rakyat, a coalition of PKR, DAP and PAS.
Efforts by PKR to negotiate for seats were ignored. Telephones and ‘smses’ went unanswered.
Days before nomination days, the movement of change, Sarawak (MoCS) revealed that SNAP’s financiers John Soh had withdrawn supporting the party due to lack of commitment given to the party and its lack of planning and direction.
A number of sympathetic organisations also announced their disassociation with the party, leaving it in a limbo.
But the most devastating effect on SNAP’s credibility was the disclosure that it had obtained some funds from UMNO to fight not only Taib Mahmud, but also PKR.
That little piece of news spread like wildfire in the rural areas especially in the constitunecies where SNAP was contesting.
Despite these handicaps, SNAP leaders insisted that it would contest in the Dayak majority and some mixed constituencies.
During a Press conference, a question was privately asked why did SNAP put some ‘lousy and bangkrupt’ candidates to contest.
Jugol replied that it was to ensure that PKR would not contest in those constituencies since SNAP had announced its candidates.
Their reasoning backfired as it pointed to SNAP’s selfish decision – its main aim was to prevent PKR from contesting in these constituencies, but missed the bigger picture that of ousting the BN leaders.
“That will give SNAP not only a wrong impression and perception to the voters, but in the process it lost its integrity and credibility” said a political analyst.
SNAP’s leaders should realise that after eight years in the “ICU” it was suddenly waken from the deep ‘slumber’ at the time when the state was preparing for its 10th state election.
“It is still weak and cannot talk big,” said the analyst.
Worst, it wanted to contest not only in two to three seats, but the whole of the 29 Dayak majority seats and 19 other mixed constituencies.
People were laughing at them especially the BN component parties as it helped to split the Dayak votes much against the Patakan Rakyat’s desire for a one-to-one fight against the BN candidates in all the 71 seats.
“This was SNAP’s biggest political blunder.
“The party should not have contested but continued to rebrand or rejuvenate itself until perhaps the next state election,” said a political scientist.
“SNAP should only think of contesting in 2015 election. By then it has fully recovered from the eight years in the political doldrum,” he said.
From onward, there are two things that it must do if it wants to continue to stay relevance. First, the party calls for an urgent emergency meeting to discuss the future of the party.
Second, the present committee must all resign to open the way for new, young and capable leaders to take over. Otherwise, the party will be further reduced into smaller than a mosquito party.
And third, it must return to the fold of the Pakatan Rakyat. On its own, SNAP cannot remain to become a single party purely representing the Dayaks.
Sectarian political parties are no longer relevant to serve the narrow and bigoted interest of a community.
It needs to be together with national based parties like PKR and DAP in the effort to create a two-party system.
Showing posts with label SNAP Crisis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SNAP Crisis. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 20
Friday, January 7
SNAP to be rebranded
Picture shows the group before the meetingKUCHING: Discussions have now been carried out between leaders of Sarawak National Party (SNAP) and leaders of the defunct Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) on the move to rebrand SNAP which has been left in political doldrums for the last eight years after a leadership crisis.
The rebranding of the party will not only make it into a formidable force, but it will become a truly multi-racial party of the future.
Among those involved in the discussions include former PBDS President Daniel Tajem, former PBDS treasurer general Anthony Liman, Douglas Alau, former PBDS executive secretary and several hardcore members of the defunct party, who have not joined any political party since the deregistration of PBDS in 2004.
Committee members of the stillborn Malaysian Dayak Congress (MDC) have also joined the discussions.
Asked to confirm the move, the SNAP Secretary general Stanley Jugol admitted that several discussions have already been held in Kuching and in Miri and a number of these leaders have been appointed to hold key posts in the party.
“SNAP is open to all who share its aspirations and struggle. It is going to remain as an inclusive party working under Pakatan Rakyat (People’s Alliance).
“By rebranding the party, it is hoped that SNAP will once again return to its past glory,” he said, pointing out that the formation of Sarawak Pakatan Rakyat in May last year gave an opportunity for SNAP to play a bigger role both nationally and locally.
“We want to play a bigger role in Pakatan, but the party must first reorganise or rebrand itself in an effort to strengthen the party,” Jugol said, adding that the party needs the expertise and the guidance of the veteran Dayak politicians.
“But we also need young and professional people to come forward to be members of the party, because they are going to be the future leaders of the party,” he said.
Jugol said that the party has agreed to organise asymposium in Sibu on 15 January to explain the move to the people.
He also said that another symposium will be held in Kuching towards the end of the month on the same objective.
Later in February, the “new” SNAP will be launched, he said.
Jugol said that the party also agreed to form a “Council of Elders” whose main task is to guide and advice the party on matters of importance such as the issues of native customary rights land, traditions, customs and Adat.
Following a bitter leadership crisis in 2002, SNAP was not only reduced into a “mosquito” party, but was also deregistered by the Registrar of Societies. However, it was given a stay of execution pending its appeal to High Court. It was only on 26 June last year that the Court decided on SNAP’s favour.
The crisis began when the party found its former Treasurer General Tiong King Sing, the MP for Bintulu guilty as charged for tarnishing the name of the party over the failed TV3 building project in Bintulu.
His expulsion on 11 April 2002 led to nine central executive committee members walking out from the meeting as they did not agree with the decision of the party.
It also triggered the mass resignations of nine of its elected representatives and members who on 5 November 2002 formed Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP). The “gang of nine” as they were popularly known was led by William Mawan Ikom, who later became president of the newly formed party.
The third party to be formed after Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) and Party Negara Sarawak (PANAS), SNAP’s formation on 10 April 1961 opened the way for the Dayaks to participate in politics during Sarawak’s preparation for independence.
When Sarawak became independence through the formation of Malaysia in September 1963, Ningkan who was the founding secretary general was made Sarawak’s first chief minister.
In the height of its electoral successes, SNAP had nine MPs and 18 state legislators. In 1976 SNAP joined the Barisan Nasional until it was unceremoniously kicked out in 2002.
Today it joins a new coalition, Pakatan Rakyat together with DAP, PKR and PAS.
The rebranding of the party will not only make it into a formidable force, but it will become a truly multi-racial party of the future.
Among those involved in the discussions include former PBDS President Daniel Tajem, former PBDS treasurer general Anthony Liman, Douglas Alau, former PBDS executive secretary and several hardcore members of the defunct party, who have not joined any political party since the deregistration of PBDS in 2004.
Committee members of the stillborn Malaysian Dayak Congress (MDC) have also joined the discussions.
Asked to confirm the move, the SNAP Secretary general Stanley Jugol admitted that several discussions have already been held in Kuching and in Miri and a number of these leaders have been appointed to hold key posts in the party.
“SNAP is open to all who share its aspirations and struggle. It is going to remain as an inclusive party working under Pakatan Rakyat (People’s Alliance).
“By rebranding the party, it is hoped that SNAP will once again return to its past glory,” he said, pointing out that the formation of Sarawak Pakatan Rakyat in May last year gave an opportunity for SNAP to play a bigger role both nationally and locally.
“We want to play a bigger role in Pakatan, but the party must first reorganise or rebrand itself in an effort to strengthen the party,” Jugol said, adding that the party needs the expertise and the guidance of the veteran Dayak politicians.
“But we also need young and professional people to come forward to be members of the party, because they are going to be the future leaders of the party,” he said.
Jugol said that the party has agreed to organise asymposium in Sibu on 15 January to explain the move to the people.
He also said that another symposium will be held in Kuching towards the end of the month on the same objective.
Later in February, the “new” SNAP will be launched, he said.
Jugol said that the party also agreed to form a “Council of Elders” whose main task is to guide and advice the party on matters of importance such as the issues of native customary rights land, traditions, customs and Adat.
Following a bitter leadership crisis in 2002, SNAP was not only reduced into a “mosquito” party, but was also deregistered by the Registrar of Societies. However, it was given a stay of execution pending its appeal to High Court. It was only on 26 June last year that the Court decided on SNAP’s favour.
The crisis began when the party found its former Treasurer General Tiong King Sing, the MP for Bintulu guilty as charged for tarnishing the name of the party over the failed TV3 building project in Bintulu.
His expulsion on 11 April 2002 led to nine central executive committee members walking out from the meeting as they did not agree with the decision of the party.
It also triggered the mass resignations of nine of its elected representatives and members who on 5 November 2002 formed Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP). The “gang of nine” as they were popularly known was led by William Mawan Ikom, who later became president of the newly formed party.
The third party to be formed after Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) and Party Negara Sarawak (PANAS), SNAP’s formation on 10 April 1961 opened the way for the Dayaks to participate in politics during Sarawak’s preparation for independence.
When Sarawak became independence through the formation of Malaysia in September 1963, Ningkan who was the founding secretary general was made Sarawak’s first chief minister.
In the height of its electoral successes, SNAP had nine MPs and 18 state legislators. In 1976 SNAP joined the Barisan Nasional until it was unceremoniously kicked out in 2002.
Today it joins a new coalition, Pakatan Rakyat together with DAP, PKR and PAS.
Wednesday, June 30
WHAT IS SNAP’S FUTURE LIKE?
By Joseph Tawie
(This story was first published by The Malaysian Mirror and is updated and published for the readers of The Broken Shield)
KUCHING - After eight years in the political doldrums, Sarawak National Party has been given a new lease of life after the Court of Appeal on 23 June 2010 set aside the decision of the Registrar of Societies to deregister the party.
But what is SNAP’s future like? Will the Dayaks return to the party? Is SNAP that was the pride of the Dayaks in the 1970s when it had 18 State assemblymen and nine MPs, able to recapture its past glory? Or will it be able to capitalize on the sentiments of the Dayaks against the Barisan Nasional government and the authorities? And what are SNAP’s directions?
These are some of the questions that many Dayaks and non-Dayaks are asking and demanding to know.
Many believe SNAP can attain its past glory, but to do that it must be led by someone who has the charismatic personality – the bold and the fearless.
“Change of leadership must be made, if it is going to play a major role in both State and national politics. During these eight years, SNAP was left with a skeleton of members as many had left due to the uncertainty of its fate with the ‘Sword of Damocles’ hanging over its head,” said a former SNAP leader.
Its performances in those years in two parliamentary elections and one state election against the Barisan Nasional were not only dismal, but to the point of being embarrassed, considering the fact that at one time it was the party to be reckoned with.
On 10 April 1961, SNAP that became the third party to be formed after Sarawak United People’s Party and Party Negara Sarawak opened the way for the Dayaks to play active politics just before Sarawak obtaining its independence 1963. Synonymous with Dayak politics, it produced Sarawak’s first Chief Minister in the person of Stephen Kalong Ningkan.
However, SNAP’s fortunes began to decline after the 1982 leadership crisis during which James Wong took over the leadership at the expense of the support of the Dayaks who formed between 80 percent and 90 percent of the party membership. That crisis led to the formation of Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak in 1983.
But the 2002 crisis, another leadership crisis, between Wong and a group of Dayaks led by Peter Tinggom dealt a fatal blow to the party when the Registrar of Societies decided to deregister it on 5 November 2002 ignoring the appeals from both sides.
Basically, the crisis was triggered with the expulsion of the MP for Bintulu Tiong King Sing over an issue involving the construction of a TV3 station in Bintulu.
The party accused Tiong of failing to honour his word of donating RM1.5 million to finance part of the project which was RM4 million. Both the Federal Government and TV3 agreed to come up with RM1 million and RM1.5 million respectively.
Tiong who was then treasurer general of the party denied that he had promised to come up with the money.
However, SNAP found Tiong guilty as charged under Article V, Clause (iii) and (vi) of the party constitution.
“Article V – Expulsion of members
(iii) Destroys or attempts to destroy the integrity and good name of the party; or and
(vi) Incites hatred and animosity amongst members or against any Party leaders.”
The case against Tiong was heard on 11 April 2002 at the party headquarters. All the Central Working Committee members attended the meeting.
Before the expulsion order was mentioned, nine members of the CWC led by Tinggom staged a walk-out in protest against the decision. They found that Tiong’s expulsion was flawed when two of the seven appointed CWC members took part in the decision.
The appointment of the two had not been lodged with the Registrar of Societies, although the party constitution to increase the appointed members from five to seven was amended and endorsed in 2000 TGM.
Thus all decisions including expelling Tiong made by the CWC with votes from the seven appointed members were invalid, null and void.
William Mawan, then the Minister of the Environment and Public Health, and obviously the leader of the group brought up the matter with the ROS. The protracted crisis led to the party’s deregistration and the formation of Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party. But SNAP applied for stay of execution pending its appeal to the Court of Appeal.
That exactly is the story.
Since that crisis and the demise of Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak in October 2004 also due to leadership crisis, had left Dayaks who were not with Barisan Nasional in political limbo.
Now that the Court of Appeal has made its decision in SNAP’s favour, many Dayaks both outside and within the Barisan Nasional are closely watching SNAP’s next move.
The first thing they are interested to know is when SNAP will be holding its TGM and the election of new office-bearers in the next two or three months.
Can they bring in new professionals and the thousands of ex-PBDS members to join the party?
To them this is vital if the party wants to be respected and to be reckoned with. They feel that SNAP should try especially to woo the ex-PBDS members who are still angry with the BN government and authorities for deregistering PBDS and for refusing to register Malaysian Dayak Congress as a political party to replace PBDS.
“We are closely watching SNAP’s next move,” said Daniel Tajem, a former senior vice-president before he was kicked out from the party in 1983.
Many prefer SNAP to remain in the Pakatan Rakyat as it can form the “Dayak arm” of the coalition. At the moment the Dayak interests are being covered by the multi-racial PKR whereas the Chinese and the Malay interests are being looked after by DAP and PAS respectively.
But a BN leader who refuses to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter believes that if SNAP is to remain in PR it may live to regret its decision.
To him, returning to BN should be an ideal and strategic move. Firstly, it can claim back all the seats now under the hands of SPDP. After all, SPDP is the “pretender”. So SPDP can be advised to dissolve and return to SNAP. After all SPDP is the off-spring of SNAP. From here, it can slowly and surely gain its past glory.
To his knowledge SNAP has never been expelled from the BN nor has it left the BN. This has been confirmed by SNAP Secretary General Stanley Jugol.
The BN leader says that once in BN, SNAP (including the dissolved SPDP) and Parti Rakyat Sarawak can discuss the merger of the two parties. Currently the merger between PRS and SPDP goes nowhere as there are obstacles that both parties are unable to solve.
“This is the bigger picture that SNAP must think in the interest of the future of Dayaks in this country,” he said.
But the question is: is SPDP prepared to dissolve itself for the bigger interest of the Dayak community? And the other big problem is that whether the Barisan Nasional component parties are ready to accept SNAP back.
Chief Minister and Chairman of State BN Abdul Taib Mahmud has made it very clear that only a collective decision by the BN parties can determine whether SNAP can return to the coalition.
“A lot of waters have gone under the bridge. I have to discuss it with other parties,” he said.
No doubt there are people including Dayaks themselves who do not wish Dayaks to be united under one political umbrella as this will pose a threat to their positions. In fact they prefer the current political scenario whereby the Dayaks are split right, left and centre: some are in SNAP, PKR, PRS, SPDP, PBB and even SUPP.
This results in Dayaks having weak and ineffective voice in articulating the community’s hopes and aspirations. And yet the Barisan Nasional parties consider the Dayaks as their “fixed deposits” in the coming election as they the urban voters are no longer reliable.
Given a new lease of life and the possible injection of new blood including professionals into the party, can SNAP be able to convince the Dayaks in the rural areas to support its political struggle and to reduce the BN’s “fixed deposits”?
This is its biggest test.
(This story was first published by The Malaysian Mirror and is updated and published for the readers of The Broken Shield)
KUCHING - After eight years in the political doldrums, Sarawak National Party has been given a new lease of life after the Court of Appeal on 23 June 2010 set aside the decision of the Registrar of Societies to deregister the party.
But what is SNAP’s future like? Will the Dayaks return to the party? Is SNAP that was the pride of the Dayaks in the 1970s when it had 18 State assemblymen and nine MPs, able to recapture its past glory? Or will it be able to capitalize on the sentiments of the Dayaks against the Barisan Nasional government and the authorities? And what are SNAP’s directions?
These are some of the questions that many Dayaks and non-Dayaks are asking and demanding to know.
Many believe SNAP can attain its past glory, but to do that it must be led by someone who has the charismatic personality – the bold and the fearless.
“Change of leadership must be made, if it is going to play a major role in both State and national politics. During these eight years, SNAP was left with a skeleton of members as many had left due to the uncertainty of its fate with the ‘Sword of Damocles’ hanging over its head,” said a former SNAP leader.
Its performances in those years in two parliamentary elections and one state election against the Barisan Nasional were not only dismal, but to the point of being embarrassed, considering the fact that at one time it was the party to be reckoned with.
On 10 April 1961, SNAP that became the third party to be formed after Sarawak United People’s Party and Party Negara Sarawak opened the way for the Dayaks to play active politics just before Sarawak obtaining its independence 1963. Synonymous with Dayak politics, it produced Sarawak’s first Chief Minister in the person of Stephen Kalong Ningkan.
However, SNAP’s fortunes began to decline after the 1982 leadership crisis during which James Wong took over the leadership at the expense of the support of the Dayaks who formed between 80 percent and 90 percent of the party membership. That crisis led to the formation of Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak in 1983.
But the 2002 crisis, another leadership crisis, between Wong and a group of Dayaks led by Peter Tinggom dealt a fatal blow to the party when the Registrar of Societies decided to deregister it on 5 November 2002 ignoring the appeals from both sides.
Basically, the crisis was triggered with the expulsion of the MP for Bintulu Tiong King Sing over an issue involving the construction of a TV3 station in Bintulu.
The party accused Tiong of failing to honour his word of donating RM1.5 million to finance part of the project which was RM4 million. Both the Federal Government and TV3 agreed to come up with RM1 million and RM1.5 million respectively.
Tiong who was then treasurer general of the party denied that he had promised to come up with the money.
However, SNAP found Tiong guilty as charged under Article V, Clause (iii) and (vi) of the party constitution.
“Article V – Expulsion of members
(iii) Destroys or attempts to destroy the integrity and good name of the party; or and
(vi) Incites hatred and animosity amongst members or against any Party leaders.”
The case against Tiong was heard on 11 April 2002 at the party headquarters. All the Central Working Committee members attended the meeting.
Before the expulsion order was mentioned, nine members of the CWC led by Tinggom staged a walk-out in protest against the decision. They found that Tiong’s expulsion was flawed when two of the seven appointed CWC members took part in the decision.
The appointment of the two had not been lodged with the Registrar of Societies, although the party constitution to increase the appointed members from five to seven was amended and endorsed in 2000 TGM.
Thus all decisions including expelling Tiong made by the CWC with votes from the seven appointed members were invalid, null and void.
William Mawan, then the Minister of the Environment and Public Health, and obviously the leader of the group brought up the matter with the ROS. The protracted crisis led to the party’s deregistration and the formation of Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party. But SNAP applied for stay of execution pending its appeal to the Court of Appeal.
That exactly is the story.
Since that crisis and the demise of Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak in October 2004 also due to leadership crisis, had left Dayaks who were not with Barisan Nasional in political limbo.
Now that the Court of Appeal has made its decision in SNAP’s favour, many Dayaks both outside and within the Barisan Nasional are closely watching SNAP’s next move.
The first thing they are interested to know is when SNAP will be holding its TGM and the election of new office-bearers in the next two or three months.
Can they bring in new professionals and the thousands of ex-PBDS members to join the party?
To them this is vital if the party wants to be respected and to be reckoned with. They feel that SNAP should try especially to woo the ex-PBDS members who are still angry with the BN government and authorities for deregistering PBDS and for refusing to register Malaysian Dayak Congress as a political party to replace PBDS.
“We are closely watching SNAP’s next move,” said Daniel Tajem, a former senior vice-president before he was kicked out from the party in 1983.
Many prefer SNAP to remain in the Pakatan Rakyat as it can form the “Dayak arm” of the coalition. At the moment the Dayak interests are being covered by the multi-racial PKR whereas the Chinese and the Malay interests are being looked after by DAP and PAS respectively.
But a BN leader who refuses to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter believes that if SNAP is to remain in PR it may live to regret its decision.
To him, returning to BN should be an ideal and strategic move. Firstly, it can claim back all the seats now under the hands of SPDP. After all, SPDP is the “pretender”. So SPDP can be advised to dissolve and return to SNAP. After all SPDP is the off-spring of SNAP. From here, it can slowly and surely gain its past glory.
To his knowledge SNAP has never been expelled from the BN nor has it left the BN. This has been confirmed by SNAP Secretary General Stanley Jugol.
The BN leader says that once in BN, SNAP (including the dissolved SPDP) and Parti Rakyat Sarawak can discuss the merger of the two parties. Currently the merger between PRS and SPDP goes nowhere as there are obstacles that both parties are unable to solve.
“This is the bigger picture that SNAP must think in the interest of the future of Dayaks in this country,” he said.
But the question is: is SPDP prepared to dissolve itself for the bigger interest of the Dayak community? And the other big problem is that whether the Barisan Nasional component parties are ready to accept SNAP back.
Chief Minister and Chairman of State BN Abdul Taib Mahmud has made it very clear that only a collective decision by the BN parties can determine whether SNAP can return to the coalition.
“A lot of waters have gone under the bridge. I have to discuss it with other parties,” he said.
No doubt there are people including Dayaks themselves who do not wish Dayaks to be united under one political umbrella as this will pose a threat to their positions. In fact they prefer the current political scenario whereby the Dayaks are split right, left and centre: some are in SNAP, PKR, PRS, SPDP, PBB and even SUPP.
This results in Dayaks having weak and ineffective voice in articulating the community’s hopes and aspirations. And yet the Barisan Nasional parties consider the Dayaks as their “fixed deposits” in the coming election as they the urban voters are no longer reliable.
Given a new lease of life and the possible injection of new blood including professionals into the party, can SNAP be able to convince the Dayaks in the rural areas to support its political struggle and to reduce the BN’s “fixed deposits”?
This is its biggest test.
Thursday, September 10
Is Nyarok going to defend his seat?
Is Peter Nyarok (pic above) defending his deputy president’s post when Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) holds its elections in December this year?
This is the question being asked by many of his supporters and friends in view of his silence over speculations that he has offered to step down in order to make way for the Bintulu MP and treasurer general Tiong King Sing.
Even SPDP president William Mawan is unsure of Nyarok’s position; however he includes Nyarok in his line-up hoping that there will be no contests for the top posts.
Speculations have been rife among the members that Nyarok has negotiated with Tiong over the possibility of Tiong taking over the number two post as he wants to retire from politics.
It is learnt that the majority of the party’s supreme council and members are wary of Tiong’s intention to be the two of the party and thus they have held discussions to carry out “Plan B” whereby they want to challenge Tiong, and if need be Mawan’s leadership should he take Tiong as his running mate.
Of course Mawan is hoping that every thing will remain status quo. But Nyarok’s silence seems to confirm the rumours of his stepping down and this will inevitably open the way for the top posts to be contested.
Dr. Tiki Lafe, vice president of the party has already talked about the new line-up, when he said: “There is likelihood that even the top posts will be challenged including his own vice-president post. We are talking of a Plan B now and a new line-up.”
“What some of the us fear is that if Tiong becomes the number two, it will be a matter of time before he takes over the leadership of the party. If this happens, then there are bound to be troubles in the party,” said another member of the supreme council who requested not to be quoted in view of the sensitivity of the issue.
Several reasons they do not want Tiong to be the number two. Firstly, they see Tiong as the stumbling block for Dayak unity through merger between SPDP and Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS). The merger talks have been initiated five years ago and nothing concrete has come out of the proposal. Tiong has been known to be not in favour of the merger.
Secondly, they see Tiong and his company Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd are allegedly involved in the PKFZ scandal. The latest news about the scandal is that KDSB account to the tune of RM140 million has been frozen pending investigations into the case. The SPDP supreme council members fear that if any thing happens to Tiong, they do not want the party to be dragged along.
Another reason, and the most important one, is that they do not want Sarawak National Party’s history to be repeated. SNAP was saddled with crisis after crisis since James Wong took over the leadership of the party beginning in 1981. During his presidency, Dayaks’ interests and voices were suppressed.
He treated the party as his own company and did not tolerate any criticism; anyone who disagreed with him was expelled from the party. Daniel Tajem, the late Joseph Samuel and Patau Rubis were among victims of Wong’s dictatorial rule in the party. And even Tiong was a victim in the 2002 crisis which led to split in SNAP and resulted in the formation of SPDP in November 2002.
Some of the current SPDP’s supreme council members had bitter experiences in SNAP and they do not want the same thing happens to SPDP.
One among them is Nyarok, the retired school teacher, who came into prominence when he played a leading role together with Mawan and seven others in the 2002 SNAP crisis in which they disagreed with the SNAP president’s expulsion of Tiong from the party. Their disagreement led to them leaving the party and forming SPDP.
Upon the formation of SPDP, Tiong was given the post of treasurer general, while Nyarok upon the death of Peter Tinggom one year or so later was elevated to the post of deputy president.
“It is in this light that we oppose Tiong taking over as deputy president of the party and we will oppose him by challenging him,” said a SPDP leader who also refused to be identified.
“Moreover, Tiong has become too powerful in the party and has antagonized many supreme council members,” he said, adding that Tiong has been treating them with little respect.
According to him, Tiong rebuked them during last month’s supreme council meeting. He said: “Abis kami ditelanjai ka iya”. (Literally it means Tiong completely stripped them off).
Although Tiong’s outbursts did not go down well with some members of the council, they refused however to argue with him. Instead they preferred to keep silence, but his outbursts caused some fears and worry among them.
As they want to fight Tiong at all costs, many are worried about the consequences and Mawan must realise that four or five of SPDP’s State assemblymen are known to be leaning towards Parti Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB), the backbone of the State government, which was responsible for their candidacies.
As claimed by a leader who is one of the initiators of “Plan B”, most of the elected representatives are in the second list.
“It all depends on Mawan. He must make a choice. Either he supports Tiong or supports Dayak unity. If he is supportive of Tiong, then he will be challenged,” said a senior member of the party.
Meanwhile, Party Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) which will hold its delegates conference later is watching with great interest what is happening in SPDP especially in respect of Tiong’s possible election as his party’s deputy president.
“If that happens, we know that the proposed merger between the two parties will not take place in the immediate future as we know that Tiong is against the merger,” said Tedewin Ngumbang, a member of PRS supreme council. - The Broken Shield
This is the question being asked by many of his supporters and friends in view of his silence over speculations that he has offered to step down in order to make way for the Bintulu MP and treasurer general Tiong King Sing.
Even SPDP president William Mawan is unsure of Nyarok’s position; however he includes Nyarok in his line-up hoping that there will be no contests for the top posts.
Speculations have been rife among the members that Nyarok has negotiated with Tiong over the possibility of Tiong taking over the number two post as he wants to retire from politics.
It is learnt that the majority of the party’s supreme council and members are wary of Tiong’s intention to be the two of the party and thus they have held discussions to carry out “Plan B” whereby they want to challenge Tiong, and if need be Mawan’s leadership should he take Tiong as his running mate.
Of course Mawan is hoping that every thing will remain status quo. But Nyarok’s silence seems to confirm the rumours of his stepping down and this will inevitably open the way for the top posts to be contested.
Dr. Tiki Lafe, vice president of the party has already talked about the new line-up, when he said: “There is likelihood that even the top posts will be challenged including his own vice-president post. We are talking of a Plan B now and a new line-up.”
“What some of the us fear is that if Tiong becomes the number two, it will be a matter of time before he takes over the leadership of the party. If this happens, then there are bound to be troubles in the party,” said another member of the supreme council who requested not to be quoted in view of the sensitivity of the issue.
Several reasons they do not want Tiong to be the number two. Firstly, they see Tiong as the stumbling block for Dayak unity through merger between SPDP and Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS). The merger talks have been initiated five years ago and nothing concrete has come out of the proposal. Tiong has been known to be not in favour of the merger.Secondly, they see Tiong and his company Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd are allegedly involved in the PKFZ scandal. The latest news about the scandal is that KDSB account to the tune of RM140 million has been frozen pending investigations into the case. The SPDP supreme council members fear that if any thing happens to Tiong, they do not want the party to be dragged along.
Another reason, and the most important one, is that they do not want Sarawak National Party’s history to be repeated. SNAP was saddled with crisis after crisis since James Wong took over the leadership of the party beginning in 1981. During his presidency, Dayaks’ interests and voices were suppressed.
He treated the party as his own company and did not tolerate any criticism; anyone who disagreed with him was expelled from the party. Daniel Tajem, the late Joseph Samuel and Patau Rubis were among victims of Wong’s dictatorial rule in the party. And even Tiong was a victim in the 2002 crisis which led to split in SNAP and resulted in the formation of SPDP in November 2002.
Some of the current SPDP’s supreme council members had bitter experiences in SNAP and they do not want the same thing happens to SPDP.
One among them is Nyarok, the retired school teacher, who came into prominence when he played a leading role together with Mawan and seven others in the 2002 SNAP crisis in which they disagreed with the SNAP president’s expulsion of Tiong from the party. Their disagreement led to them leaving the party and forming SPDP.
Upon the formation of SPDP, Tiong was given the post of treasurer general, while Nyarok upon the death of Peter Tinggom one year or so later was elevated to the post of deputy president.
“It is in this light that we oppose Tiong taking over as deputy president of the party and we will oppose him by challenging him,” said a SPDP leader who also refused to be identified.
“Moreover, Tiong has become too powerful in the party and has antagonized many supreme council members,” he said, adding that Tiong has been treating them with little respect.
According to him, Tiong rebuked them during last month’s supreme council meeting. He said: “Abis kami ditelanjai ka iya”. (Literally it means Tiong completely stripped them off).
Although Tiong’s outbursts did not go down well with some members of the council, they refused however to argue with him. Instead they preferred to keep silence, but his outbursts caused some fears and worry among them.
As they want to fight Tiong at all costs, many are worried about the consequences and Mawan must realise that four or five of SPDP’s State assemblymen are known to be leaning towards Parti Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB), the backbone of the State government, which was responsible for their candidacies.
As claimed by a leader who is one of the initiators of “Plan B”, most of the elected representatives are in the second list.
“It all depends on Mawan. He must make a choice. Either he supports Tiong or supports Dayak unity. If he is supportive of Tiong, then he will be challenged,” said a senior member of the party.
Meanwhile, Party Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) which will hold its delegates conference later is watching with great interest what is happening in SPDP especially in respect of Tiong’s possible election as his party’s deputy president.
“If that happens, we know that the proposed merger between the two parties will not take place in the immediate future as we know that Tiong is against the merger,” said Tedewin Ngumbang, a member of PRS supreme council. - The Broken Shield
(Note the article was first published by the Malaysian Mirror and has been rewritten to suit the readers of The Broken Shield).
Friday, November 2
Excerpts from Chapter 3: The SNAP Crisis
Rumours of SNAP’s president, Dunstan Endawie having loggerheads with his secretary-general, Leo Moggie and the senior vice-president, Daniel Tajem were at first considered as “mere rumours” especially after the party had won with a resounding victory in the recent State election in which it won 16 seats, losing two to independents including one SUPP-backed. SNAP accused SUPP of manufacturing those rumours in an effort to divert attention from internal problems affecting SUPP itself.
But after a while, the rumours and allegations seemed to gather some elements of truth. Such allegations, even if they were untrue, were made by Moggie’s supporters that he was sent to Kuala Lumpur to be made a Federal Minister (Minister of Energy, Telecommunications and Posts) so that he would not become a threat to Endawie’s leadership.
Helping to fuel such rumours was Endawie himself, when he openly told his supporters that he wanted to step down as president and was looking for someone outside the party to take over from him. Among those mentioned by him was Rufus Nanang, who was an assistant Director of Education. The author remembers attending a dinner with the late Edward Jeli, Endawie, Atong Chuat and Jefferson Jingan in March 1980 at Holiday Inn Kuching. He told us that he wanted Rufus to take over from him as the president in order to make things difficult for Moggie and Tajem. As a friend, the author said to him that such a move could be disastrous and even could split the party, because Rufus was not even a member of the party and had no political experience. Further more, he was still working with the Education Department. Even if he resigned to take over the leadership, his appointment could not be made automatic. It had to be elected by the Triennial Delegates Conference (TDC).
How would Moggie and Tajem feel if they were sidelined? In fact the duo was the most suitable candidates to take over the leadership. Compared to Moggie and Tajem, Endawie was less academically qualified. Perhaps this could explain the reason why he felt insecure as the president. There was also a time he told his supporters that the duo had also undermined his leadership. Endawie must be referring to Moggie and Tajem who advised him to stop his night clubbing and cock-fighting activities (sometimes he was present in illegal cock-fighting).
Although such activities were personal, they could, however, jeopardise the good name of the party, the cabinet post he held as well as the community he represented. Endawie, who disliked Rahman, seldom attended cabinet meetings or attended to his ministerial functions. Many a time he did not go to his office, but spent his times at Rumah Dayak. So when Moggie and Tajem gave their advice to him, he thought that they were undermining his leadership.
But after a while, the rumours and allegations seemed to gather some elements of truth. Such allegations, even if they were untrue, were made by Moggie’s supporters that he was sent to Kuala Lumpur to be made a Federal Minister (Minister of Energy, Telecommunications and Posts) so that he would not become a threat to Endawie’s leadership.
Helping to fuel such rumours was Endawie himself, when he openly told his supporters that he wanted to step down as president and was looking for someone outside the party to take over from him. Among those mentioned by him was Rufus Nanang, who was an assistant Director of Education. The author remembers attending a dinner with the late Edward Jeli, Endawie, Atong Chuat and Jefferson Jingan in March 1980 at Holiday Inn Kuching. He told us that he wanted Rufus to take over from him as the president in order to make things difficult for Moggie and Tajem. As a friend, the author said to him that such a move could be disastrous and even could split the party, because Rufus was not even a member of the party and had no political experience. Further more, he was still working with the Education Department. Even if he resigned to take over the leadership, his appointment could not be made automatic. It had to be elected by the Triennial Delegates Conference (TDC).
How would Moggie and Tajem feel if they were sidelined? In fact the duo was the most suitable candidates to take over the leadership. Compared to Moggie and Tajem, Endawie was less academically qualified. Perhaps this could explain the reason why he felt insecure as the president. There was also a time he told his supporters that the duo had also undermined his leadership. Endawie must be referring to Moggie and Tajem who advised him to stop his night clubbing and cock-fighting activities (sometimes he was present in illegal cock-fighting).
Although such activities were personal, they could, however, jeopardise the good name of the party, the cabinet post he held as well as the community he represented. Endawie, who disliked Rahman, seldom attended cabinet meetings or attended to his ministerial functions. Many a time he did not go to his office, but spent his times at Rumah Dayak. So when Moggie and Tajem gave their advice to him, he thought that they were undermining his leadership.
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