KUCHING: A marriage is not something anyone should rush into and it should be no different for political parties although the prospect of having a well-to-do spouse is very enticing.

That is one way of looking at the reactions of the Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) presidents yesterday to the possibility that their parties’ merger could be a step towards a greater political union.

PRS president Dato Sri Dr James Masing and SPDP president Dato Sri William Mawan were certainly supportive of the idea of joining Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) one day but there was just that slight hint of “cold feet”.

“It needs a lot of thinking. Rational thinking and not emotional thinking,” said Masing, the Land Development Minister, when contacted in Kapit.

But having said that, he believed that a merger with Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) would be a step in the right direction given the current political climate in the country.

“The Chief Minister’s (Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud) comments will strengthen Sarawak based parties against the onslaught of peninsula-based parties in the next state election.

“The political landscape has changed so we must change too to stay relevant,” he added.

Taib, the state BN chairman, had on Friday spoken of the possibility that the merged PRS-SPDP entity could one day negotiate to join PBB, the state coalition’s backbone party of which he is the president.

He had said there were suggestions in the past that PRS and SPDP should join PBB but he did not agree then because the parties were not growing at the same pace.

However, he said that could change if the PRS-SPDP merger was realised as the new party, which would have an understanding of the demands of a merger, would be in a better position to negotiate with PBB.

If the tri-party merger is realised, it would be a major consolidation of Bumiputera based coalition parties in Sarawak.

Indeed, it would be one of the largest parties in Malaysia.

Mawan, when interviewed by reporters after a function here yesterday, spoke a great deal about taking things a step at a time and obviously, the first step would be to make sure the PRS-SPDP merger happened smoothly.

He said the main objective of the merger was to enhance the political stability of the state and he agreed with Taib that it was difficult to negotiate if their parties were not in order.

He conceded that in their meetings, SPDP and PRS realised that they had issues to overcome first.

“So if we can merge in a very peaceful manner and we become solid, the next step will be to go a step further in achieving solidarity of the BN government with regards to Bumiputera politics as envisaged by the Chief Minister.

“But you have to polish yourself up first, you have to get yourself united and have a lot of common stand in a lot of things,” said Mawan, who is Social Development and Urbanisation Minister.

He pointed out that it was Taib’s wish for the Bumiputera leaders to be united and in so doing, Mawan felt that Bumiputera leaders must be prepared to make sacrifices.

“I don’t mind stepping aside. I can’t just say let’s merge, let’s go for it and I’m not prepared and make myself a stumbling block. That’s not commitment,” he said.

Asked if Taib’s comments would speed up the SPDP-PRS merger, he replied: “I’m sure it gives a lot of assurance and confidence among members of the grassroots especially.

“For us leaders, we know from time to time he (Taib) has been encouraging us but at the same time, he also realises there is a lot of problems that we have to solve. He reminded us about setting aside our own personal things and that we must rise above it even beyond ourselves. That is very very important for me.”

SPDP and PRS do not have a timetable for their merger.

It was only Wednesday that the merger committees of both parties agreed that a merger ‘would be in their parties’ best interest.”

The committees also announced that they have shortlisted three names for their new party – Bersatu Rakyat Sarawak (Beras), Demokratik Rakyat Sarawak (Deras) or Bersatu Progresif Rakyat Sarawak (BPRS).

But naming the new party is only a small part of the process.

The biggest challenge would be the new leadership of the party and that is something the two committees are apparently not looking at yet.