Wong gestures as he speaks to journalists. — Photo by Muhammad Rais Sanusi
KUCHING: United People’s Party (UPP) is adopting the ‘wait-and-see’ attitude on its stand and direction amidst the volatile political development in the state.
President Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh believes that the way forward “is wide open” and the party would rather ‘wait and see’.
The Minister of International Trade and E-Commerce declined to comment much but asserted “all roads lead to Rome” when prompted for UPP’s next course of action — whether to stick with Barisan Nasional (BN) Sarawak.
“All roads lead to Rome as far as UPP is concerned,” he said when met by journalists after handing out minor rural project (MRP) grants to charitable organisations at his office in Bangunan Baitul Makmur in Petra Jaya yesterday.
Wong, who is Bawang Assan assemblyman, reiterated that “all roads lead to Rome” when pressed for what UPP would do next.
“As far as we are concerned, the way forward is wide open, and all roads lead to Rome,” he stressed.
Asked whether UPP would continue with the talks on merging with Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP), he repeated: “The way forward is wide open and we shall wait and see.”
When asked if his son Dato Andrew Wong remained a member of SUPP, he said: “That should be the case”, quickly adding that only Andrew became a part of SUPP.
Andrew contested the Sibu parliamentary seat as SUPP candidate under the BN ticket in the May 9 general election and was defeated by Democratic Action Party’s Oscar Ling by a majority of 11,422 votes.
Asked whether it would be wise for state BN to pull out of federal BN, Soon Koh said: “That one you ask our Chief Minister (Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg).”
He added: “He (Abang Johari) is going to make the final decision.”
On May 16, Abang Johari said Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), which is led by him, was reviewing its partnership with BN and would come up with the best solution for the best interest of Sarawak.
“We will review and we will consult our other state BN component parties. I have mentioned about the united coalition of Sarawak as our platform and we have to consult our Sarawak BN partners (before we make any decision),” he said.
The four BN Sarawak component parties are PBB, SUPP, Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and Progressive Democratic Party (PDP).