THE embattled president of Parti Aspirasi Rakyat Sarawak (Aspirasi), Lina Soo, who reportedly had been sacked from her position last Sunday, has accused a former member of Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) of orchestrating the coup.

Soo, the founding member of the state rights party seeking Sarawak’s independence via a referendum, told The Malaysian Insight that John Lau Pang Heng is the key figure behind last Sunday’s coup.

She said it was not George Young Junior as widely thought.

Lau was PSB’s candidate in the five-way fight for the Chinese-majority seat of Kota Sentosa on the outskirts of Kuching in the 2021 state elections.

He was reportedly “elected” the new president in the party’s scheduled annual general meeting (AGM) in Kuching, and Young, the chairman.

Young and Andygie Gines, the party’s “new” secretary-general, have so far been the faces of the group in the latest power struggle to hit a political party in the state.

Young, who is a former PSB member and the party’s candidate in the semi-urban seat of Stakan in the 2021 state polls, and Gines have been making all the statements and responding to media queries on behalf of the group.

Soo said she wonders why the party’s so-called new president was still keeping quiet and lurking in the background.

She insisted on being Aspirasi’s legal president and has referred the AGM and her sacking to the Registrar of Societies to determine their validity.

Young yesterday continued to insist that the appointment of new office bearers was done in accordance with the party’s constitution but Soo fired back, accusing him of ignoring “the sanctity of the party constitution for his personal agenda”.

“George Young had ignored all rules and grossly flouted the party constitution in order to stage an illegal takeover bid of Aspirasi.”

Soo said when she pointed out that the AGM could not be conducted due to a lack of quorum and most of the people Young and his supporters he had brought to the meeting were not party members, she claimed she was ordered to keep quiet and ushered out of the room.

She added that she felt threatened by “burly attendees who were not members” and she left “for her own safety”.

She said after she departed, Young proceeded to form the new committee to replace those who were elected in 2021 and whose term would expire only in 2026.

She claimed Young could not claim to be a “bona fide party member” as he, too, had allegedly never paid his entrance fee of RM10 and annual subscription fee of RM10.

“This disqualifies him as a bona fide party member which denies him the right to vote and be voted, and any privilege to participate in any proceedings of meetings according to party constitution as required under article 5(3).

She said Gines is also a non-fee paying individual who has not paid up the due registration and subscription fees, and therefore had no right to take part in any proceedings at the party meeting.

In the list of new office bearers that was given to the press, Soo claimed those who are not party members but still got elected in were Freedy Misid (deputy president), David Reddy (vice-president), Benjamin Lim (deputy secretary-general), Amanda Lee Kin Fui (treasurer-general) and Susana (deputy treasurer-general).

Misid is a former member of another pro-independence party, Parti Bumi Kenyalang, and was its candidate in the rural Dayak seat of Opar in Lundu in the last state elections.

Lawyer Dominique Ng told The Malaysian Insight the legality of the AGM, whether the people who attended the AGM were registered and paid-up members, and also the resolutions made therein, could be called into question.

“If the AGM was not properly called in accordance with the party constitution, then of course whatever decision(s) it made would be illegal,” Ng, who is also the president of state’s rights civil society organisation Sarawak Association For Peoples’ Aspiration, said.

Ng said from information he received, “there was a proper notice sent out to the membership” for the AGM.

“As to those attending, apparently they were all registered and paid-up members,” he added.

Ng said even though the AGM of any party or its highest decision-making body has the right and power to sack any office bearer, including its president, there is always a “due process” to follow.

“Like a right to be heard in defence or the right to an appeal.”

He said he has no idea whether Soo was accorded the due process before she was sacked. – February 16, 2023.