Masing not worried about SNAP

Rebranding and resurgence of SNAP needs time according to Party Rakyat Sarawak president James Masing.

KUCHING: Party Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president James Masing is unperturbed by rumours that his members may leave the party leave to join a resurgent Sarawak National Party (SNAP).

Said Masing: “I am not unduly worried of SNAP. Rebranding and resurgence of SNAP will take time. PRS and Barisan Nasional are well established and cannot be easily dislodged.”

But Masing believes that SNAP’s rebranding and its aim to contest in 28 Dayak majority seats may however worry its partners, PKR.

“SNAP has served the Dayaks and rural community and had their strong support. But since PKR wants to be the boss and champion so they too have to wrestle with SNAP on the matter,” he said.

Masing said PKR, like SNAP, is also a multi-racial party claiming to have a strong Dayak following.

But ongoing disagreements over seat allocations within the opposition is already visible.

“How can we be worried of them (SNAP)? They could not compromise on seat allocation, unlike parties in the Barisan Nasional.

“The signs of cracks are already there in the opposition,” said the state land development minister.

Many enquiries

SNAP’s re-emergence meanwhile has caught the eye of several members of the ex-Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS), BN component parties members and party-less Dayak professionals.

Many have been making enquires following SNAP’s rebranding exercises in Kucing and Sibu recently.

“They may join the party later on… in fact a senior PRS leaders was seen at a SNAP symposium in Sibu recently,” said a source inside SNAP.

The source said that soon after his return to Kuching, the PRS leader had been rumoured to have tendered his resignation from the party.

But thus far there has been no confirmation of his resignation.

When SNAP was deregistered in 2002 most of its members including its elected representatives joined the newly formed Sarawak Parti Progressive Democratic (SPDP) led by William Mawan Ikom.

SNAP was therefore left alone to nurse its own wounds.

But a Court of Appeal ruling last year finding no reason for the party to be deregistered gave SNAP a second lease in life.

Taking this second chance seriously, SNAP launched a rebranding exercise aimed at returning the party to its glory days when SNAP was a household word in the longhouses.

At its political peak, SNAP had 18 state seats and nine parliamentary seats and its membership was about 123,000.

Sarawak first Chief Minister Stephen Kalong Ningkan was once the secretary general of SNAP. - FMT