SNAP in talks to regain old glory

KUCHING: The largely Dayak-driven Sarawak National Party (SNAP), which gave the state its first chief minister in Stephen Kalong Ningkan, is set to make a combative return to the political arena, eight years after a leadership crisis cast it into the wilderness.

Its leaders are currently holding discussions with counterparts in the defunct Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) and the stillborn Malaysian Dayak Congress (MDC) to consolidate their people power into a rebranded SNAP in preparation for the 10th state and 13th general elections.

An insider familiar with the talks said the idea is to turn SNAP into a “formidable and truly multi-ethnic party”.

Among those involved in the discussions are several hardcore PBDS members, including Daniel Tajem, Anthony Liman and Douglas Alau. Tajem was the president of the defunct party. Liman was treasurer and Alau secretary.

Several key committee members of the MDC are also in the negotiations.

SNAP secretary-general Stanley Jugol has confirmed speculation that several discussions were held in Kuching and Miri and that a number of PBDS and MDC leaders had been appointed to key positions in the new SNAP, which will probably be launched next month.

“SNAP is open to all who share its aspirations and struggle,” Jugol said. “It is going to remain as an inclusive party working under Pakatan Rakyat.

“By rebranding the party, it is hoped that SNAP will once again return to its past glory.”

He said the formation of Sarawak Pakatan Rakyat last May gave SNAP an opportunity to play a bigger role in local and national politics.

“We want to play a bigger role in Pakatan, but SNAP must first reorganise and rebrand itself. The party needs the expertise and guidance of veteran Dayak politicians. And we also need more young and professional people to come forward because they are going to be the future leaders of the party.”

He also said the party would hold a series of open symposiums to explain its current moves. The first of these will be in Sibu on Jan 15 and the second in Kuching at the end of the month.

“Once we have talked to the people, we will launch the new SNAP,” he said. “We are proposing a February launch.”

Jugol said that the party had also agreed to form a Council of Elders, which would provide counsel on such issues as native customary rights land (NCR), traditions and customs.

A bitter leadership crisis in 2002 reduced SNAP to a mosquito party. It was deregistered, but it appealed against the Registrar of Societies’s decision and the High Court ordered a stay of execution.
Last June, the court ruled in SNAP’s favour, giving the once dynamic party a new lease on life.

The crisis began when SNAP expelled its treasurer-general, Tiong King Sing, after finding him guilty of tarnishing the party’s name over a failed TV3 building project in Bintulu.

Nine central executive committee members disagreed with the decision and walked out of the meeting. Following this, nine other members quit the party. The latter nine, who included members of the legislatures, formed SPDP in November 2002.

The leader of the Gang of Nine, as they were then popularly known, was William Mawan Ikom, who is currently the president of SPDP.

SNAP was formed on April 10, 1961. It paved the way for Sarawak’s largely Dayak community to participate in politics as the state prepared for independence from British rule.

When Sarawak gained independence through the formation of Malaysia in September 1963, Ningkan, who was SNAP’s founding secretary-general, was made Sarawak’s first chief minister.

At the height of its glory, SNAP had nine MPs and 18 state legislators. It joined BN in 1976 but was unceremoniously kicked out of the coalition in 2002.

It joined Pakatan last year. - FMT