George Lo
KUCHING: United People’s Party (UPP) will not dissolve and will remain a Barisan Nasional (BN) Plus party while applying to be a full-fledged member of the ruling coalition.
This was stressed by the party’s secretary-general George Lo in response to Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) secretary general Datuk Dr Stephen Rundi Utom’s suggestion that UPP should dissolve to pave the way for its members to join other BN component parties.
Apparently Dr Rundi was referring to the dissolution of Parti Tenaga Rakyat Sarawak (Teras) which was in a similar situation as UPP when he made that call.
“We are not Teras and it would be a mistake to compare us to them. We have 26 full-fledged branches with 30,000 members and we were able to raise RM38 million in education fund in a fortnight,” Lo said.
Lo added that UPP would continue to negotiate with BN component parties on the possibility of a merger.
On the position of the nine partyless state elected representatives, three of whom are former UPP members, Lo said there is no doubt that they belong to BN. He believes more time should be given to solve their position as BN is now in a very strong position in the state after the last state election and could afford to take more time to deliberate on which party they should join.
“There is a need to take time to search for a well considered decision as there are various competing interests in the equation.”
He pointed out that three of the partyless assemblymen were UPP members and were funded by the party when they stood for election and that Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) also has an interest in the position of the three former Teras elected representatives as they were SPDP members before joining Teras.
“A meeting must be held to discuss how an amicable solution could be reached. All stakeholders must be involved including UPP as three of the assemblymen are our former members.”
On Dr Rundi’s hope the partyless assemblymen return to their former BN component parties, Lo said those who are former Sarawak United People’s Party members would find it impossible for them to return to their former party because of the pre-conditions set for their return.
“SUPP announced that they we are welcome but on the condition that we shall not hold any party position and have no say whatsoever in the party.”
In today’s print edition of The Borneo Post, this story mistakenly attributed the above statements to UPP president Datuk Sri Wong Soon Koh. We would like to apologise for the mistake as these statements came from the party’s secretary-general.