However, a check with the Registrar of Societies (ROS) turned up empty.
State ROS director Ken Leben said there was no such application, adding he did check with his headquarters in Putrajaya after getting the news from social media.
“Insofar as the ROS is concerned, there is no such new political party,” he told The Borneo Post yesterday.
He said it would take some time for any party to get registered as it would have to be screened thoroughly by the ROS.
“So, if a new party wants to apply now, it will not be in time to get registered for the next state election.”
However, when queried, a ROS spokesman did not dismiss the possibility that an existing political party could amend its constitution to assume a new name, similar to what Sarawak Workers Party (SWP) did before.
“SWP, before it amended its constitution, was Sabah-based Sabah People’s Front Party (SPF). So yes, it is possible for an existing party to amend its constitution to change its name and for the ‘new’ party to participate in the next state election if it is held in March next year,” said the spokesman.
When contacted, Bill Kayong, whose name has been shortlisted to stand in Senadin, said he would not deny nor confirm the speculation.
“DUN Senadin is among the ‘hot seats’ in this upcoming state election. I would like to thank DNP leaders for choosing me as their candidate,” said Bill, who is also the secretary of Dayak NGO Pedas.
Another shortlisted candidate, Lina Kujak, who works as a translator with The Borneo Post’s sister paper Utusan Borneo’s Iban section, laughed off the speculation and denied any knowledge of it.
She said it could not be true as she is from Bintangor while she had been speculated to stand in Bukit Assek in Sibu.
Besides these two individuals, there are at least 17 other names of professionals from various fields. They were neither from the BN or the opposition.
The speculation also claimed that the new party was being funded by a billionaire who is close to a ‘Tun’ and a ‘Datuk Seri’ and purportedly a very influential Sarawak ex-politician.
Meanwhile, PRS president Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Jemut Masing advised aspiring Dayak politicians not to be overly enthusiastic about forming a new political party even though he claimed the Dayaks, especially the Ibans, had the tendency to be “egalitarian in nature”, thinking that they had the right to do whatever they think was right.
He also warned the Dayaks that as a minority group in the country, they could not afford to be split further.
“PRS, as an offshoot from PBDS, is fighting for the Dayaks and is still very much relevant today to assist the community further. If we have fall short in anyway, we would like to invite the young and professional Dayaks to join us to make things better together from within the party that we already have,” he appealed.
Masing also stressed that there was no chance for ‘gung-ho’ to make any impact on local politics as they do not touch base with the people especial those at the grassroots’
level.
“PRS has been doing what needs to be done for the good of the Dayak community, especially in terms of native customary right (NCR) land. We will also continue to fight for better Dayak representation in the civil services as well as other things that will benefit the community.
“That’s the reason we continue to have engagement with the people, especially in the rural areas, so that we will continue to uphold their struggles. But all these aspirations, as mentioned by DNP as their purported manifesto, has been part of our struggle all these while,” added Masing.-Borneo Post
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