KOTA SAMARAHAN: United People’s Party (UPP) Youth chief Dr Johnical Rayong Ngipa said there is no point for Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) and Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) to harp on Barisan Nasional (BN) seat arrangement for the next state election.
The Engkilili assemblyman said SUPP and SPDP could talk about it until the cows come home but in the end the candidates fielded would always be from BN. It would be better for them to let state BN chairman Datuk Patinngi Tan Sri Adenan Satem to decide on seat allocation for all the various BN parties, he stressed.
Rayong said UPP, led by Second Finance Minister Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh, and another new party Parti Tenaga Rakyat Sarawak (Teras) helmed by Social Development Minister Tan Sri William Mawan Ikom, are pro-BN and therefore are very much part of BN as affirmed by Adenan publicly many times.
“Let the Chief Minister (Adenan) decide on the matter (seat allocation and BN candidacy) because in the end that is his prerogative as state BN chairman. I believe the CM would bank on the most important criterion which is winnability of candidates when it comes to deciding seat allocation and candidacy,” he said.
Rayong, who is also UPP vice president, was reacting to the latest statement by key leaders of both SUPP and SPDP that still insisted on rejecting the entry of UPP and Teras into BN despite Adenan’s affirmation that UPP and Teras are pro-BN and that he is running a BN-Plus government.
This, Rayong pointed out, showed that leaders of SUPP and SPDP were in denial mode or were pretending not to listen to the wish of top state leaders.