Chou urges SUPP to hold delegates’ conference earlier

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KUCHING: Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) should call for an earlier delegates’ conference, the highest decision making body in the party, to decide on how to select the top leadership including the presidency.

There are already suggestions like open contest, contest only the post of deputy president and other posts downward and/ or referendum from branches and other party tiers upward to name a few.

Dr Chou Chii Ming, president of Federation of Kuching-Samarahan Divisions Chinese Associations, believed that Chinese-dominant party SUPP should hold an early delegates’ conference rather than end of this year to decide on the selection method.

Dr Chou did not say which method was best for SUPP which suffered a disastrous outing in the April 16 state election, where it managed to win only six out of 19 seats — compounded by the fact that four of the six seats were won by Dayak members.

Their consolation, if one can call it that, is that its deputy secretary-general Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh won in Bawang Assan and Datuk Lee Kim Shin in Senadin. Both have a sizeable number of Iban voters.

Yesterday Dr Chou said: “SUPP is an old party. It is 52-years old and therefore members should know what to do. Perhaps they can think of something in its highest decision-making body, the delegates’ conference. So hold it early.”

“Whether they want an open contest or not should be left to the delegates’ conference to decide. This is also in accordance with their constitution or bylaws,” he pointed out.