‘DAP does not fancy third party in Mas Gading’ – Chong

3
TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT: STAR service centre next to Nansian’s service centre.

TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT: STAR service centre next to Nansian’s service centre.

KUCHING: State Democratic Action Party (DAP) does not fancy a third party joining the fray in Mas Gading in the next general election because they would be splitting votes of the opposition.

Its secretary Chong Cheing Jen, who is also Bandar Kuching MP, said this to comment on State Reform Party’s (STAR) intention to field a candidate in Mas Gading, a Barisan Nasional (BN) stronghold.

Chong, who preferred to see straight fights between BN and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) in all the parliamentary seats in the state also described third party as ‘traitors of the people’ and ‘opportunists’.

“The coming election will see battles between BN and PR and no place for other opportunistic political party. It is either the BN or PR. All those third parties hoping to win a few seats and hoping to bargain their way through for self interest are traitors of the people,” said Chong who is also DAP national vice-president when contacted yesterday.

State DAP is adamant of wanting to field Mordi Bimol in the seat even though PR has not made any decision yet on seat allocation and candidacy.

It was also reported that even PR’s loose partner Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) had wanted to field Boniface Willy Tumek, which would result in overlapping claims of Mas Gading seat as far as the PR is concerned.

STAR vice-president Patrick Anek Uren was reported to have said that they had re-activated their election machinery in Mas Gading and also looking forward to working together with former members of the now defunct Sarawak National Party (SNAP) to mount a formidable challenge against the BN there.

He was however tight-lipped on their potential candidates but murmurs on the ground indicated that the party was negotiating with ex-SNAP leader Frankie Nyombui to arrive at a common decision on candidacy.

Meanwhile, at a press conference here yesterday, Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) Tasik Biru division chairman Michael Siten said STAR would not pose a threat to the BN in Mas Gading.

However, he considered PR and several partyless elected representatives including Dr Tiki and Tasik Biru assemblyman Datuk Peter Nansian who claimed to be BN-friendly as the biggest threat to the BN coalition.

Michael said these partyless elected representatives, being government officials carrying government fund around in the area, did have the support of some people.

As for PR, they were a threat because they had been moving aggressively around in the area, he added.

However, the command and power of the elected representatives would start to wane as their terms as government officials was coming to a close, he said.

On the apparent coincidence that STAR service centre is situated next to that of partyless Tasik Biru assemblyman Datuk Peter Nansian in Bau, Michael said that did not mean anything to the BN.

He claimed that Nansian could not see eye-to-eye with STAR chieftains Dr Dripin Sakoi and Dr Patau Rubis and if there were anything latter on, the location of their offices was just for convenience’s sake, operational-wise.

He said STAR in the past had never cooperated with the BN and would never be in the future.

In the final analysis, the real contest would be between BN and PR, he claimed.