Unification must include new members of Teras — Supreme council member

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Udin Ali

Udin Ali

KUCHING: The ongoing unification process of Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) members and its former members must include the taking-in of new members of Parti Tenaga Rakyat Sarawak (Teras).

This is because Teras comprises members recruited upon its formation and members of former opposition parties like Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) who swung to Barisan Nasional (BN) apart from former SPDP members, said Teras supreme council member Udin Ali. When contacted yesterday, Udin pointed out the unification would not be complete if only former members rejoined SPDP.

Udin stressed that Teras is a strong party, taking into account its membership database.

“Unification makes a lot of sense in the reconsolidation of the BN because Teras members include former members of SPDP and also new ones who are mostly former members or supporters of the opposition who had swung to BN through Teras. All in all, Teras has 26 registered branches, 27,000 members who are issued with membership cards and another 4,000 without cards,” Udin explained.

Having said that, he acknowledged that not all former members of SPDP in Teras would want to rejoin SPDP.

“Not all may want to rejoin or join SPDP. But I can assure you that at least 60 per cent of Teras members are prepared to continue their political struggle or services for the people with SPDP as their vehicle. After all, SPDP is a full-fledged BN component party unlike Teras. I am also sure that among the 60 per cent are new members or those from the opposition who had swung to BN through Teras before this,” said Udin.

Udin was reacting to comments made by SPDP president Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing, SPDP secretary-general Datuk Anthony Nogeh Gumbek, political secretary to the Chief Minister and SPDP supreme council member Alexander Asing Sadai and Teras leaders like vice -president Capt Zainuddin Hamdan and deputy secretary-general Banyi Beriak, supporting the unification process of members and former members of SPDP.

SPDP was co-founded by Saratok MP and Pakan assemblyman Tan Sri William Mawan Ikom in 2002 after the deregistration of Sarawak National Party (SNAP).

Mawan is former SNAP vice president, former SPDP president and former Teras president but is now party-less after quitting Teras just before the May 7 2016 state election to enable him to stand as a direct BN candidate. However, he still has thousands of loyalists, supporters and sympathisers in Teras and SPDP.

Mawan’s strongest hint that he personally liked the idea of unification was made during a press conference on Sept 21 this year after the launch of his book ‘Reflection- A journey of Hope, Aspiration and Perseverance’ when he said “Politics is art of the possible” when referring to an excerpt from the book.