MIRI: For the first time, Sarawak United People’s Party has admitted to having issues with the very community it represents – the Chinese.
“From the shocking defeat of the party in the Sibu by-election on May 16, we can conclude that we have some problems with the Chinese voters.
“The Sibu parliamentary constituency has always been the party’s stronghold, but in the by-election, we have lost it to the opposition,” said Peter Chin, SUPP organising secretary during a Gawai Dayak visit.
Describing the defeat as a “wake-up” call, Chin said that the party must find out the exact reason why the Chinese in Sibu are not giving their support to the party.
With the defeat, Chin confessed that the party may have trouble retaining its state seats in Bawang Assan and Pelawan in the coming state election. Both these constituencies, together with the Malay-dominated Nangka, form the Sibu parliamentary constituency.
SUPP lost the Sibu parliamentary seat to DAP in a closely fought tussle on May 16.
The party also foresees trouble in defending the state constituencies of Dudong and Bukit Assek in the Lanang parliamentary constituency, which is also part of Bandar Sibu.
Said Chin: “Bandar Sibu is very important to SUPP. Now we have lost one of the parliamentary seats (Sibu) to the DAP. It is our responsibility to ensure that we will be able to defend the state seats.”
Chin is also worried about the impact of the defeat on 11 other state seats in which Chinese voters form the majority.
In the last state election, SUPP was given 19 seats to contest, but lost eight to the opposition.
No pressure to name Riot
Meanwhile in Kuching, SUPP president George Chan has denied that his party was pressured to recommend Richard Riot to be appointed as deputy foreign minister.
He said Riot was recommended not because the party wanted to appease the Bidayuh and garner their support in the coming state election.
“Riot was recommended because he is the most capable and very experienced... he has been an MP for 20 years.
“There is no hidden motive in choosing Riot,” Chan said, amidst accusation by the opposition that the party was pressured to choose the Bidayuh MP from Serian from the Bidayuh community.
Chong Chieng Jen, Sarawak DAP secretary and MP for Bandar Kuching, said that SUPP which claimed to represent the Chinese community should have recommended a Chinese.
“There are eligible candidates such as Sim Kheng Hui, Hii Thai King and Tiong Thai King who are all senators. Why do they select Riot?” he asked.
“There should not be any race factor in the selection of a minister or deputy minister. But SUPP has always used Chinese representation as its propaganda,” Chong said.
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