KUCHING: Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) will need to work harder to win more Chinese votes if it wants to retain Stampin constituency in the 13th General Election, says SUPP vice-president Tan Joo Phoi.
Tan, who is also SUPP Batu Kawah branch chairman, opined that while focusing on winning more Chinese votes, the party should not forget the Bumiputera voters who were also strong supporters of the party in previous elections.
“They (Bumiputera voters) are our strong supporters and this time we should try to win all their votes and also win more Chinese votes,” he said when asked to comment on SUPP’s chance in retaining Stampin in the upcoming general election.
Stampin is currently held by five-term MP Datuk Yong Khoon Seng, who had expressed his
intention to retire from politics after his term as MP ends.
Tan stated that the spirit among party members in all branches under the constituency – SUPP Batu Kawah branch, SUPP Kota Sentosa branch and SUPP Batu Lintang branch remained high and they were working very hard on the ground to promote potential BN candidate Wilfred Yap.
“We have a very well set up organisation under the Stampin constituency and we’ll work hard to help and promote our candidate to win the election,” he said.
When asked on what the party could do to win more votes, Tan declined to comment further, saying that it was not necessary to go into the details as it concerned the party’s election strategies.
SUPP assistant publicity secretary Sih Hua Tong who also responded to the question said: “I thought that is supposed to be our election strategy. If we were to reveal it to the public then everybody will know what we are doing.”
SUPP has been allocated seven parliamentary seats. Besides Stampin, the other six seats are Bandar Kuching, Serian, Sarikei, Miri, Sibu and Lanang. Out of the seven seats, SUPP holds Stampin, Serian, Sarikei, Miri and Lanang while Bandar Kuching and Sibu seats are being held by Democratic Action Party.