Committee defers Bintangor election

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Datuk Sim Kheng Hui

KUCHING: Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Central Election Committee (PCEC) has decided to defer the election of SUPP Bintangor branch committee members and delegates until further notice.

This is because consensus could not be reached on Nov 17 at the branch office on question whether to follow traditional system of voting by area which had been practised by the branch in the past.

“Consequently, local branch election committee cannot be formed to carry out branch election,” the PCEC pointed out through a press statement signed by secretary-general Datuk Sim Kheng Hui yesterday.

On an issue in SUPP Kanowit branch, PCEC declared that the 41 candidates standing for branch committee members and nine candidates standing for branch delegates were duly elected without contest on Nov 28.

They had successfully filed in their nomination for committee members and delegates respectively.

In recognising the branch Nov 17 nomination for Nov 28 branch election, the PCEC decided that the branch nomination held on Nov 5 for the branch election by the other faction on Nov 19 was not authorised by party central and therefore null and void.

The Nov 17 nomination was authorised and supervised by party central and it was also properly conducted based on voting member list which was approved and issued by party central.

These issues were among those discussed and/or resolved by the PCEC at its Nov 24 meeting held at party headquarters here. Five out of seven PCEC members were present. They were Sim; Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan (president); Dato Sri Peter Chin (organising secretary), Datuk Alfred Yap (publicity and information secretary) and Datuk David Teng (treasurer-general). But Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh (deputy secretary-general I) and Datuk Lee Kim Shin (Central Working Committee (CWC) member) were not present.

The PCEC said they had “attended, discussed and deliberated” on the party and on the on-going branch elections in particular on issues that have been lodged with PCEC.

They also clarified that as a general principle, the PCEC would leave the general conduct of all party elections of the sub-branches and that of the Youth and Women sections to the respective committees concerned.

“It is noted that all party sub-branches and branches are registered as separate entities with the Registar of Societies (ROS),” it pointed out.

In order to ensure proper and smooth elections of all sub-branches and branches, the PCEC may issue directives to all of them regarding their elections.

All of them are required to comply and follow party constitutions and provisions of the Rules and Regulations of election of office bearers and delegates and also to PCEC directives where applicable, PCEC stressed.

“Should there be a dispute at any party election at sub-branch and / or branch level, and such dispute has been lodged with the PCEC, then the PCEC authorised by the Central Working Committee (CWC) shall conduct an investigation into the dispute.

“Where necesasry, the PCEC will interpret the provisions of the constitution and the Rules of Election of office bearers and delegates and the directives in order to decide on the disputes raised,” PCEC added in the press statement.