KUCHING: Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Engkilili branch chief Toh Heng San is quitting the party.
He also hinted that people should wait and look out for political development in the constituency.
Toh, a former Engkilili assemblyman, said unhappiness with party leadership and certain aspects of the Barisan Nasional were among the reasons he quit.
The decision was made following the state BN’s acceptance of Engkilili independent assemblyman Dr Johnical Rayong Ngipa into SUPP last Sunday.
SUPP agreed in its Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting to accept Dr Rayong as a member on Sept 20.
Dr Rayong has been knocking on SUPP’s door for many months.
Based on the date of the email he sent to members of the media yesterday, Toh intended to quit on Oct 31 2010, the day the state BN held a pre-state legislative assembly meeting and also to confirm Dr Rayong’s membership.
When contacted Toh said: “Yes, I am resigning. Yes, there will be further political developments. Just wait and see.”
He also said that at the moment he could only think of quitting the BN and nothing else.
His Oct 31 email entitled ‘Re: Resignation as a party member from SUPP’, said he was compelled to make the difficult and painful decision because the present political course of SUPP was not in the interest of the people of Sarawak.
“I have also said publicly that if Johnical Rayong becomes a SUPP member, then I would resign,” he said in the email.
“I joined SUPP in 1960 as a teenager and was among one of the earliest to join the party.
“Immediately after joining SUPP, I joined the dynamic movement of anti-colonialism and anti-imperialism.
“I was imprisoned for eight years as a political detainee, the prize paid for joining the movement.
“But I have no regrets because what I had done was for the better future of our children and children’s children.”
He also explained his grounds for quitting SUPP.
“Today’s SUPP is not the SUPP that I used to know. The present leadership does not practise the political principle of ‘From the masses and back to the masses’.
“On many occasions, the Party Central unilaterally either over-ruled or completely ignored the decisions adopted by the Special Delegates Conference (SDC)/Delegates Conference (DC)/Central Committee (CC)/Central Working Committee (CWC),” he said.
In 2008 and 2009, he said, the DC/CC/CWC unanimously resolved not to accept Dr Rayong because this would create a bad precedence and it was against BN’s stand and policy.
However, the central leadership chose to ignore these resolutions adopted by the supreme authority, for instance the DC/CC of the party.
“I thank the people of Engkilili who gave me strong support which made me to be elected as their assemblyman from 1991 to 2006,” he said.
In the May 2006 state election, SUPP’s Johnathan Krai Pilo lost to Dr Rayong who contested on a Sarawak National Party’s ticket.
Yesterday, SUPP president Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan appealed to Toh to reconsider his action and also to retract his statement.
He also said the party wanted Toh to stay on as member because his action may have been made in the heat of the moment.
Dr Chan, who is also Piasau assemblyman and a deputy chief minister, said he was willing to talk about the matter if Toh agreed.