Quit if you are not happy with Mawan – SPDP Pelagus, Baleh chiefs

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KUCHING: SPDP Pelagus and Baleh divisions yesterday called on certain ‘Wanita’ (women) leaders in the party to quit if they are not happy with party president Tan Sri William Mawan.

SPDP Pelagus chairman John Ason and his Baleh counterpart Jonah Sibat said in a joint statement issued yesterday  the motion to have a vote of  no confidence against the party president was not the way to resolve party problems.

They reasoned that the move – to oust the president – was legally and politically not right as far as Barisan Nasional (BN) was concerned.

“If they (Wanita) are still not happy, we urge them to quit as there are many others who want to work hard for SPDP. This also applies to any group within the party which intends to remove the president before his tenure of service expires,” they said.

They were responding to recent news report which quoted a party insider as claiming that 20 of the SPDP Wanita held a meeting chaired by their chief Datuk Chiew Yen Chew on April 25, during which 18 of those present wanted Mawan out.

They were said to be unhappy with Mawan for readmitting the Group of Four (G4), comprising four assemblymen who were sacked by the party for gross insubordination in Nov 2011 and Jan 2012.

Both John and Jonah said they supported the president’s move to readmit the G4 into the party because it was in line with the BN spirit of solidarity

“Taking into account that the party president is a state cabinet minister and also BN vice-chairman, he therefore must have been privy to all BN political moves. So, who are we to question the BN move when they wished to reunite G4 members with the party”.

“We support the president’s move to readmit the G4 because it is in line with the BN spirit of solidarity. Judging from the body language of several state BN leaders after the readmission of the G4, they all wanted reconciliation to happen immediately and were glad that it has finally happened,” they said.

They also said the reconciliation effort was noble and part of the political solution of the BN to lessen the squabble between SPDP and members of the G4 who are in actual fact their former party leaders.

“Those who are not satisfied with the readmission of four members of the G5 should go to or refer to headquarters for clarification.

“Those who aspire to become party leaders should wait for the next TGA (triennial general assembly) and not get excited now unless they have other ulterior motive or wish to be the ‘guinea pig’ of some party leaders with malice,” they said.