Wednesday, June 18, 2008

PRS & SPDP making headway

KUCHING: The long-talked about merger between Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) seems to be making headway. This followed a “positive meeting” between officials of the two Dayak-based Barisan Nasional component parties last week. Talks on a merger had been on hold after an internal leadership crisis occurred in PRS two years ago.

Factions led by Datuk Dr James Masing and Larry Sng Wei Shien were engaged in a bitter tussle to take control of the party leadership. The tussle however abated after Sng, who is Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department, said last month that he recognised Dr Masing as party chief.

However, Sng’s key supporters have yet to heed his calls to accept Dr Masing as the party president. Dr Masing said PRS and SPDP were now in the “right mood' for the proposed merger following the meeting.

“There is a common understanding between us. The grassroots must first agree to merge and understand why we (both parties) need to come together,” he told reporters after launching a road safety campaign in conjunction with the Gawai Dayak festival at the waterfront area here.

Dr Masing said for the merger to be officially sealed, both parties had to get the approval at their respective general meetings. He said the merger would consolidate Dayak unity, with the native community making up over a million of Sarawak’s 2.3 million people.

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