However, the choice of candidates should be best left to the wisdom of the top leaders, president Tan Sri William Mawan Ikom said, whom he believed would take into consideration all aspects before making a decision.
Mawan was reacting to a view expressed by Teras Meluan branch chief Jerry Clement that Teras is BN’s best bet to recapture Meluan seat in the coming state election.
When speaking during a leader-with-the-people gathering at Rumah Rengayan Ngumbang here last Sunday that was organised by Special Affairs Department (Jasa), Jerry said the party’s Meluan branch had grown in strength, with total number of members up to date at 5,052, who all had registered as voters in the constituency.
“If membership is anything to go by, its 5,052 members is enough to ensure victory in Meluan which has slightly over 12,000 registered voters,” Jerry said, adding usually only about 75 to 80 per cent of voters turned up on any polling day.
Jerry also said all the 21 sub-branches of the Meluan branch had formed their respective election machinery to face the state election.
During the function, five branches handed over new membership forms to Mawan who was present as guest-of-honour.
In recalling the establishment of Teras, Mawan said it was formed to maintain the strength of Barisan Nasional (BN) and to accommodate leaders and members of Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) who had decided to go separate ways following an internal crisis in the party.
He mentioned that those who decided to form Teras were only quitting SPDP to put to rest the internal bickering once and for all.
He further said they never left BN, a fact that was acknowledged by both the state and federal BN leadership by accepting Teras as a partner under the BN Plus formula.
“I was its president when I quit SPDP, but I wish to clearly state here that I have never quit BN.
“I have been in BN since I was a member of the defunct Sarawak National Party (SNAP), which is a very long time already,” Mawan recalled.
“Now that I am in Teras, I never feel that I am outside the BN circle,” he added.
“To me the birth of Teras in BN is almost similar to Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) as both had their roots in the now defunct Sarawak National Party (SNAP). PRS is a splinter of Parti Bersatu Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) which was an offshoot of SNAP whereas Teras is a splinter of SPDP which is also an offshoot of SNAP.
“The only difference is that PBDS had been deregistered. I hope we don’t have to wait for the ‘demise’ of SPDP to pave the way for Teras to be admitted into the BN fold,” Mawan added in jest.
He further said as it grew from strength to strength, Teras had never slackened in its commitment to work together under the BN flag to improve the livelihood of the people, especially the rural folks.
Among those present were Julau district officer Mohd Said Atoi, Julau Jasa liaison officer Sylvester Embuas, Meradong/Julau District Council secretary Adrian Luang, Julau district police chief DSP Bidol Noyeng and Tuai Rumah Rengayan Ngumbang.-Borneo Post
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