Mawan to head TERAS originally formed to fight him

KUCHING: Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) president Tan Sri William Mawan Ikom (pic) who is facing votes of no confidence from his Supreme Council members has quit the party to join the newly-formed Parti Tenaga Rakyat Sarawak (TERAS) which was originally formed by a group of ex-SPDP leaders who he expelled to finish off his political career.

Joing him is Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP) former assistant secretary-general Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh who also quit the party.

Others are Baram Member of Parliament, Anyie Ngau and eight SPDP assemblymen - Datuk Sylvester Entri Muran, Datuk Peter Nansian Ngusie, Rosey Yunus and Paulus Palu Gumbang.

Three assemblymen from SUPP also followed Soon Koh's move. They are Datuk Dr Jerip Susil (Bengoh), Ranum Mina (Opar) and Johnicol Rayong (Engkilili).

An opposition assemblyman, George Lagong of the Sarawak Workers Party (SWP) also joined in TERAS.

Expecting to join them are Mas Gading MP Anthony Nogeh of SPDP, State Assemblyman Datuk Lee Khim Shin and Francis Hardin who are both from SUPP. Another SUPP MP Datuk Sri Richard Riot Jaem will hold a press conference today to announce his direction.

In a hastily-called press conference here yesterday, Mawan, who is also a senior minister in the State Cabinet and Member of Parliament for Saratok, said he quit because he had been "elbowed out" from SPDP.

Mawan, who had been the SPDP president since its formation in November 2002, said several leaders in the party were against the recent reinstatement of the membership of Entri, Nansian, Rosey and Paulus.

"The reason I brought them back was to strengthen the party with the common desire to serve and consolidate Barisan Nasional," he said.

He said his decision to quit should not be likened to a captain abandoning his ship but more to being a victim of mutiny.

"(As a captain) I have been thrown overboard," he said.

Mawan said they would apply to become a Barisan Nasional (BN) component party and believed Sarawak Chief Minister and State BN chairman, Tan Sri Adenan Satem, would have a formula to accept them even if there was resistance from SPDP or SUPP.

Meanwhile, Soon Koh, who had been at loggerheads with SUPP president Tan Sri Peter Chin, said he decided to quit SUPP after finding out that there was nothing forthcoming from the peace plan for the party
proposed by the BN top leadership.

"Because of the breakdown in the peace plan, we don't want to keep quarrelling and are tired of the squabblings, we have to go," he said.

Adenan, meanwhile, told reporters that he would comment on the matter after listening to the views of all those involved.

"I will let them have their say first and I will give my comments at an appropriate time," he said.

SPDP was founded in the wake of the de-registration of the Sarawak National Party in November 2002.

Meanwhile Teras was set up to accomodate the five dissenting and once partyless leaders – better known as G5 – who were expelled from SPDP by Mawan in 2011 for insubordination.