Problem never ends for this party Showdown looms in SPDP April 2, 2014 Deputy president Tiong and scores of disgruntled members furious with way four expelled assemblymen have been allowed back in KUCHING: Speculation is rife that Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) deputy president Tiong King Sing may resign from his post in the party over a disagreement with party leader William Mawan Ikom on the direction of the party. The falling out of the two is over Mawan’s decision to readmit four rebellious members who broke party rules by challenging the leadership and holding it to ransom. Known as the Group of Four or G4, all are assemblymen and they appear to have got the upper hand in their fight with the party leadership. The four – Peter Nansian (Tasik Biru), Sylvester Entri (Marudi), Paulus Palu Gumbang (Batu Danau) and Rosey Yunus (Bekenu) – were accepted back into the party on March 20, after they had been expelled more than two years ago. Mawan’s acceptance of the four has caused ripples in the SPD. Tiong, who is the MP for Bintulu and a special envoy of Prime Minister Najib Razak to Taiwan, South Korea and Japan, is among those who have questioned the move. “For me I cannot accept the application of those who are a negative and destructive force. Why should we disturb the peace in the party?,” said Tion recently. “The sacking of the four has never rocked the party,” he said, pointing out that it was important to maintain the current harmony in the party. Claiming that he was not consulted, he said that he had received so many queries from members who have been alarmed by the president’s readmission of the G4 assemblymen. “The four had been sacked long time ago, and if bringing them back will break up SPDP, why accept them?” he questioned after word leaked that his advice to Mawan to delay the readmission of the G4 was ignored. Speculation is rife in Bintulu, Sarikei, Marudi, and Kuching that Tiong is considering resigning as SPDP deputy president in protest against the decision to accept the G4. Attempts to cnatact Tiong, who is the financier of the party, were unsuccessful, but SPDP members close to him denied the rumours. “It is not true that he is going to resign from the party. In fact he is trying to save the party,” said Alexander Asing, a potential candidate to replace Entri in Marudi. Meanwhile, a group of members and supporters of SPDP representing 30 of the 41 SPDP divisions in the state said they were disappointed in the manner in which the four were being reinstated as members of the party after being sacked two years ago for gross insubordination. “From our perspective it was done in a hastily manner and not in accordance with our party’s constitution,” they said in a statement published by Malaysiakini. “In our last TGA and AGM, it was explicitly stated and minuted that the party ‘shall and will not accept the G4 back to be a member of the party should there be any application from them’. “Any attempt to reverse this resolution could only be done in the same forum and avenue. Even the supreme council does not have absolute authority to over ride the decision of the delegates in approving the resolution passed during the last TGA and AGM,” they said in the statement. They said that what had transpired recently leading to the issuance of the ‘reinstatement certificates’ to the G4 by the president was in breach of the party’s constitution in respect of violating the said resolution. “We wonder as well as to the validity of the certificates of reinstatement. We take it as akin to the young gullible children being issued with the certificates upon graduating from a pre-school or kindergarten. “As far as we know after being loyal members of the party for the last 10 years such certificates never existed and it is not part and parcel of the mechanism that are currently being used to admit any new members of the party. “As such we strongly urge the party president Tan Sri William Mawan and his Deputy Dato’ Seri Tiong King Sing to firmly, decisively and swiftly come out with a plausible explanation as to how this gross miss-step could have happened. “It is a total mockery of the rule of law of the party. We demand as well an explanation from the supreme council. “Should there be no serious attempt to swiftly rectify the problem then the party risked being split, broken-up and the worst case scenario would be being deregistered by ROS. “In the event the president has no political will and wisdom to resolve the problem, we respectfully demand that he resigns graciously from holding the top post of the party. “The party is made up of all of its members, it belongs to all of its members who have a say in the manner in which the party is being run. It doesn’t belong to any single individual, a group of individual members or a family of any particular single individual,” they said.-JT
Posted on: Thu, 03 Apr 2014 00:03:59 +0000
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