KUCHING: With Chief Minister and state BN chairman Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem making it clear now that only winnable candidates, even from United People’s Party (UPP) and Parti Tenaga Raykat Sarawak (Teras), will be fielded in the coming state election, UPP president Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh hopes all disputes arising from the formation of his party and Teras will be put to rest.
Wong was referring to Adenan’s statement on Sunday that he (Adenan) did not discount the possibility of fielding candidates from the two new parties as long as they were winnable.
Saying he had full confidence in Adenan, Wong pointed out Adenan had said something to that effect on many occasions.
“Last August, the Chief Minister said his government was an inclusive one and called his government as BN Plus government. And his government has retained all those being sacked from Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) and Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP).
“And there was also an occasion in Kapit where he said he would pick candidates not only from the component parties but also from UPP and Teras. From what he had said in public, he has made it explicitly clear that UPP and Teras are part of BN government.
“Let there be no more disputes on this. Anyone saying otherwise is tantamount to challenging the Chief Minister’s prerogatives and authority. Let us put a stop to this long standing issue,” Wong told The Borneo Post yesterday.
For UPP, he said the party would not be squabbling for seats as it would leave the decision to the wisdom of Adenan, while the party moved towards providing effective services to the people and engaging with the grassroots.
“We are very confident that we will be able to produce winnable candidates when the time comes. This is because we have been working hard on the ground.
“We are also ready to work with SUPP so that together, we can win seats for BN,” said Wong, who is also Local Government and Community Development Minister.
On Sunday, Adenan said his decision to give the BN ticket to any party with winnable candidates was made easier by the creation of 11 new state seats.
“I will give the BN symbol to winnable candidates, including candidates from Tanjung Datu,” he was quoted saying.