Be The Largest

KUCHING: May 9, 2008 The merged Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) and Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) will become the second largest party in Sarawak going by the number of its elected representatives. SPDP president William Mawan said: “It’s going to be the second biggest entity to represent Dayak, and probably bigger than what you can mathematically perceive when it merge with Pesaka Wing of PBB.”

Mawan Anak Ikom

Apart from SPDP and PRS there are two other Barisan Nasional parties in the coalition, with Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB - consist of Bumiputera Wing and Dayak's Pesaka Wing) as the backbone party, and Sarawak United Chinese People’s Party (SUPP) as the second largest party now. PRS and SPDP have eight assemblymen each, while SUPP has 11. In Parliament, PRS has six members, SPDP (4) and SUPP (6).

“We see it as a process of consolidating unity amongs the Dayak as a whole and also strengthening or reduction PBB and SUPP,” he said when met at the Dewan Undangan Negeri yesterday. Mawan and PRS president Dr James Masing yesterday unanimously agreed that the committee undertaking the merger exercise had to garner ground support to realise the (merger) plan.

Dr. Jemut Anak Masing

“We must go to the ground because merger at the top won’t last. Merger on the ground is more vital though it may take longer time to realise,” said Masing. The Minister of Land Development said no time frame had been set though leaders of the merger committee - SPDP deputy president Peter Nyarok Entrie and PRS vice-president Dublin Unting - on Wednesday said the merger would be realised by end of this year or before the next state election at the latest

“Merger is not easy. I cannot tell how soon it will be completed as it’s going to take a while to convince the grassroots to agree to the merger. It depends on the effort of Dublin Unting and Peter Nyarok on the ground to explain why they want to merge. This will definitely take some time and that is why we don’t give any timeframe,” he said. The top leadership of the two parties could talk about anything but if the ground support was not there, it would be pointless, he added. On the merged entity, Masing said: “It will play a role to consolidate rural areas and this is what we must strive to do.”

Unting and Nyaruk

Concurring with Masing, Mawan said: “We’ll leave it to the committee to work on the mechanism that unites not only people at the top but also at the ground.” He asserted that they had to let go of the old names once the merger was completed. “A new name is not a problem. Once we are one, we shall look forward to new things and begin with an open heart. It will take time and we don’t have to rush.

“When you merge the two parties, there must be far-reaching political outlook and programmes for it to have more impact on the political scenes,” he said. Mawan, also Minister of Social Development and Urbanisation, reckoned that members of the two parties must set aside vested interest and place the party above all after the merger. “The idea seems to be very good but let the committee work out the details.” He said the merger was a process of trying to put the interest of the people and government beyond the party, and this involved sacrifices and understanding.

“We are very happy that we are able to rise up and it will be explained to all our members at the grassroots. I guess after the due process is completed, we will be able to realise the merger objective, which is to consolidate the two groups that came from the same origin,” he said. He said a lot of personal re-engineering needed to be done and members must never put their own interest above the community and the BN’s interest.