Will Mawan boot ‘rebellious’ five?

Joseph Tawie

Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) supreme council members want the party to take ‘disciplinary action’ against the five ‘disrespectful’ elected representatives.

Barisan Nasional partner, Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) is now ‘officially’ deeply divided between supporters of party president William Mawan and the rebellious five who are better known as ‘SPDP 5′.

Party members and political observers had waited to see if the ‘SPDP 5′ comprising senior vice-president Dr Tiki Lafe (Mas Gading MP), vice-president Peter Nansian (Tasik Biru representative) and state assemblymen Sylvester Enteri (Marudi), Rosey Yunus (Bekenu) and Paulus Gumbang (Batu Danau) would turn up for the party’s supreme council meeting yesterday.

They did not, according to irate inside sources.

One strong supporter of Mawan, who refused to be named, said: “They did not attend…their absence was not only flouting the constitution, but they were downright disrespectful to the party and its leadership.

“So disciplinary action needs to be taken against them.”

This time round, Mawan, it appears, would be hard-pressed to ignore angry calls by party and supreme council members to take drastic disciplinary action against the infamous five.

Yesterday’s meeting was the SPDP’s first since the state election on April 16.

SPDP managed to retain six of the eight seats contested but suffered a shocking casualty in Peter Nyarok, who lost his seat to PKR’s Ali Biju in Krian. Nyarok is SPDP deputy president and a Mawan strongman.

SPDP also lost its hold on Ba Kelalan.

Mawan had earlier decribed the decision to field Willie Liau in Ba’Kelalan as a ‘miscalculation’ on the part of SPDP which had ‘destablised’ BN’s support base in the area.

Secret meeting

The ‘SPDP 5′ had earlier this month issued a statement questioning Mawan’s ‘defeaning silence’ over the losses and the lack of a post-mortem of the party’s performance.

The five had apparently convened a secret meeting in which it was alleged that they discussed options of either joining another BN partner Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), remaining as ordinary members, or to challenge the party presidency.

SPDP 5 and Mawan have been at loggerheads since last January when they walked out of a supreme council meeting after Mawan failed to keep his promise to retain Enterie as party secretary-general.

They have since not attended any of the supreme council meetings. They are of the view that Mawan is a weak leader and under the thumb of other ‘influential’ individuals.

Rumours are that one such ‘influential’ individual is SPDP treasurer-general Tiong King Sing.

Both Tiong and ‘SPDP 5′ share a mutual dislike for each other.

There have also been speculations in the past that the five may be Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) moles.

The recent state election and PBB vice-president Awang Tengah Awang Ali Hassan’s support of the rebels’ request for funds to support their candidacy has further confirmed their ‘closeness’ to Chief Minister Taib Mahmud-led PBB.

The five claimed that SPDP had ostracised them and offered no financial support for their respective election campaign.

Last chance

At yesterday’s supreme council meeting Mawan was said to have ‘tried to calm down’ some of the ‘angry’ members.

“The president was trying to calm down the members. He said we should give them another chance to attend a supreme council meeting that will ‘suit’ their convenience.

“But the fact is they (SPDP 5) have obviously been flouting the party’s constitution,” said another party source.

The source said their continued absence has confirmed that something is still ‘very wrong’ between them and the party leadership.

Two of the ‘SPDP 5′ – Peter Nansian and Sylvester Enteri – who are both assistant ministers had given reasons for their absence. The other three – Tiki, Rosey and Paulus – did not give reasons for their absence.

Speaking to newsmen after the meeting, Mawan said: “They had given their reasons for not coming to the meeting. But whatever it is, I am ready to hold another supreme council meeting to suit their convenience.

“The rest of the supreme council members are behind me. Maybe the five can indicate to us when they can make themselves available so that we can accommodate them.”

It is understood that the reports of their absence from the meeting will be submitted to the national BN chairman Najib Tun Razak and the state chairman Taib Mahmud.

New ‘cultures’

Meanwhile, the supreme council meeting yesterday also discussed the results of the April 16 election and their loses.

Blaming the defeat on the new ‘cultures’ and strategies employed by the opposition, Mawan said: “The new cultures brought by the opposition had despised, ridiculed and distorted the facts, even throwing away our set view systems, which I think are very fundamental.

“It could destroy our cultural fabrics and put people against one another.”

He said the opposition had resorted to personal attacks and dirty tactics against the party’s candidates.

SPDP won in six constituencies – Meluan, Pakan, Marudi, Tasik Biru, Bekenu and Batu Danau – out of eight it contested.

Mawan, who won the Pakan seat albiet with a reduced majority, described their defeat as the loss to the BN.

He said that the post-mortem reports will be submitted to the state and federal BN headquarters.

The meeting also discussed the party’s preparation for the coming parliamentary election that may be called any time.

The party has four members of parliament, and they are Tiki (Mas Gading), Jelaing Mersat (Saratok) Jacob Sagan (Baram) and Tiong King Sing (Bintulu).