‘Ensure UPP not seen as splinter group of SUPP’

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KUCHING: United People’s Party (UPP) Batu Lintang branch members have been reminded to ensure that the party is not perceived as a splinter breakaway faction of the Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP).

Branch chairman George Lo said members should always bear in mind that UPP is an entirely new entity although it could not be denied that some of them were formerly with SUPP.

“This is critically important because if we are seen as part of SUPP, we have lost even before we begin. That’s why I tell former SUPP members: leave your baggage behind when you disembark from SUPP.

“You are boarding an entirely new ship and as of today, we are all new members and are all equal,” he said yesterday in his opening remarks for the branch’s inaugural general meeting (IGM).

He said another challenge is to connect with the people, while the most immediate task is to identify a winnable candidate for the Batu Lintang state constituency in the next state election, which must be held by 2016.

“For this our branch has to immediately start to identify the best person.

“To us age is no barrier, regardless of how young the person may be. Gender also is no barrier. Winnability is the only criteria,” he stressed.

Lo stated the fourth challenge is one the whole party faces – to retain the existing four state seats and capture more seats for Barisan Nasional (BN).

“CM (Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Datuk Amar Adenan Satem) is the skipper of the state BN team and he has taken the ball into a good position on the field.

“He has passed the ball to us and it is our responsibility to run with it and score the goal. Our challenge is to score as many goals as possible,” he said.

On the final challenge, which is trying to be admitted into BN as a component party, he said it is inextricably linked with the earlier challenges as it would be determined by the number of seats they win during the state election.

“Therefore, I expect everyone to hit the ground running. There is no time to waste.

“The election may be in 2015 so start getting connected with the people.

“Organise activities … identify our candidates and for all intents and purposes our campaign to be allocated the Batu Lintang constituency starts today,” he urged.