BRUNEI POLITICAL PARTIES: AND THEN THERE WERE TWO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN 000109

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MTS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/22/2017
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL BX
SUBJECT: BRUNEI POLITICAL PARTIES: AND THEN THERE WERE TWO

REF: BANDAR 105

Classified By: DCM Justin Friedman, reasons 1.4 (b) & (d)

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SUMMARY
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1. (C) The PAKAR Political party, one of just three in
Brunei, was declared dead by police on March 19. Foul play
is not suspected, as intra-party personality conflicts led to
PAKAR's untimely demise. Brunei's other two parties, the NDP
and PPKB, are active, and in NDP's case, growing in
membership. Political parties are legal in Brunei but have
no real role in governance other than serving as an alternate
channel for citizens to complain about public services, as
government officials are banned from holding party
membership. PAKAR's passing leaves a small hole in Brunei's
limited political space with one less voice for reform to
encourage the Sultan to hold elections for the Legislative
Council. (see also reftel). END SUMMARY.

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ALAS POOR PAKAR
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2. (U) On March 19 the Register of Societies (ROS) (note: the
Police Commissioner is also the Registrar of Societies)
announed that the registration of the Brunei People's
Awareness Party (PAKAR) had been declared void, along with
the registrations of 41 other organizations ranging from the
Belait District Badminton Association to the Royal
Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes. Under the law, all
associations and societies, including political parties, must
file annual reports, which PAKAR evidently failed to do.
Press reports indicated that PAKAR was also de-registered
because of an internal feud.


3. (SBU) Pol/Mil Assistant spoke to one former PAKAR member
who said the problem lay in a leadership dispute and the
inactivity of PAKAR membership. Rosli Yahya, a journalist
with the Borneo Bulletin who has followed the PAKAR story
closely, told us that the split developed following the
election of Hj Maidin Ahmad as party president and Hj Hamzah
as secretary general in 2004. Feuding between the two (for
unspecified reasons) led to a split with each man taking his
followers with him. The Register of Societies (ROS) actually
tried to keep the party alive and urged them to hold a
congress to resolve the leadership dispute. Hamzah held the
congress but failed to invite Maidin's followers. When the
ROS declined to accept this congress, Hamzah wrote to the ROS
that the party had fractured, forcing the ROS to deregister
the party. At this point, it is unclear if either fraction
intends to reclaim the PAKAR name or register a new political
party to take PAKAR's place.

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WHITHER PPKB?
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4. (C) Meanwhile, Brunei's other two parties seem to be in
better shape. Dr. Hj Mohd Hatta Zainal Abidin, President of
the Brunei Solidarity National Party told DCM that his
party's membership was stable. PPKB Hatta's party is small -
he would not give us any membership statistics. He said that
his party preferred to work quietly, performing constituent
services like carrying citizen complaints to appropriate
government authorities. However, he asserted that his party
had significant silent support from government officials - a
claim substantiated to us by a current Deputy Permanent
Secretary and a retired Permanent Secretary. Hatta told us

SIPDIS
that the PPKB supported the Sultan and the monarchy, but
wanted to see the "system" of ministers appointed from
carreer government officials replaced by a cabinet selected
from the members of a democratically elected Legislative
Council.


5. (C) PPKB is not without its own troubles. Hatta himself
may be on his way out of the leadership of PPKB. Press
reports and the Brunei rumor mill have it that Hatta's
personal business is in trouble and he had been forced into
bankruptcy -- a step that, under Brunei law, would require
him to surrender any political party leadership position.
Hatta alluded to such, noting that it may be time for him to
step down and let others take on the leadership of his party
which he had served for 21 years.

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BANDAR SER 00000109 002 OF 002


NDP: RISING STAR
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6. (C) The National Development Party (NDP),Brunei's newest
party, founded in August 2005, appears well funded and active
throughout Brunei. In contrast to the PPKB's Hatta, NDP
Deputy President Mahmud Morshidi Othman was open and positive
about the state of his party. He claimed the NDP had nearly
2000 registered members and was adding 100 per month,
notwithstanding some crude attempts by unidentified persons
to intimidate potential members by alleging (falsely) that
they would lose their pensions or other government benefits
if they joined NDP. Morshidi was proud of how the NDP had
attracted members from all ethnic groups in Brunei, and not
just Malays.


7. (C) Morshidi said that under current limits on political
activities, the NDP was focusing on building its membership
base, in part by performing the same kinds of constituent
services PPKB leader Hatta mentioned. Morshidi was critical
of mid-level government bureaucrats who were stalling on
registering party branches. Morshidi said that these
officials were not correctly interpreting clear signals the
Sultan had given about opening up Brunei to political party
formation and membership. Morshidi and figure-head party
president Yasin Affandy were both detained for several years
under the Internal Security Act, but today support the Sultan
while seeking to expand Brunei's limited political space.
The NDP wants an elected Legislative Council to be phased in
along the lines the Sultan as discussed publicly as quickly
as possible. Morshidi said that the NDP's goal to register
20 percent of the population of Brunei as members and to
become the Sultan's political base as Brunei made the
inevitable transition to greater democratic practices.

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COMMENT
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8. (C) As discussed reftel, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah has very
slowly and cautiously opened Brunei's polical space. All
parties support the Sultan and will say nothing against the
ruling dogma of Malay Muslim Monarchy. Both the NDP and PPKB
leaders told us that they do not fear competition from rival
parties, as all political parties need to grow and strengthen
their skill base to help democracy begin to emerge here. As
Legislative Council Speaker Pg Kemalludin told us, Brunei
treasures its stability. Only time will tell whether the
loss of a political party, apparently due to petty personal
squabbling, will undermine the idea that democracy is
compatible with stability. In the end, the demise of the
PAKAR party is hopefully only a small setback on Brunei's
long road to more representative government.
SKODON