Wong (seated centre) together with other party leaders at the conference.
KUCHING: United People’s Party (UPP) is ready to work together with Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) to recapture Chinese majority seats lost in the forthcoming general election for the greater good of the Chinese community in Sarawak.
UPP president Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh, who is also Second Finance Minister, pointed out today that it is time for the two parties to search for a consensus and act in unison to contribute towards a more united state.
“As we all know, the Parliamentary election is not far away. The previous election results in the predominantly Chinese constituencies were not something we could feel proud of,” he said while addressing the UPP Extraordinary Delegates Conference 2017 at KTS Garden here.
The six predominant Chinese seats he named were Kuching, Stampin, Sibu, Lanang, Sarikei and Miri.
Stressing the common fact that both UPP and SUPP would want to have some share of these Parliamentary seats, Wong said both parties must immediately work together.
“And if we want to set ourselves the goal of recapturing some if not all of the seats we lost, we need to assess each other’s strength in each of the constituencies to identify the correct and winnable candidates to represent the Chinese community,” he said.
At this critical time, Wong reminded that only the combined forces of both parties, UPP and SUPP, working together would have a chance of securing victoru for the seats lost in the last general election.
“We must come to the realisation that each of our parties are forces to be reckoned with. No one side can ignore the other side. Going separately or going against each other will do nobody any good, particularly for the Chinese community in Sarawak,” he said.
In saying this, Wong was responding to the repeated calls of Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg for the two parties to come together and find common ground.
“We are ready for such a call and have reacted positively to his (chief minister) call. It is hoped that when the time comes, I will update the outcome of that consensus and how both parties should work together for greater unity,” he added.