Chee speaking to reporters at the event.
KUCHING: Mambong Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) insists that the Mambong state constituency seat should be given to the party.
Its chairperson Datin Jennifer Alice Chee Moinie said the seat had been SUPP’s traditional seat since it was still called Bengoh from the late Segus Ginyai’s time, before it was held by her late husband Datuk William Tanyuh Nub.
She said Mambong SUPP had even prepared potential candidates.
“We have one-plus-one candidate – number one and number two choice for Mambong and they have been on the ground for a while.
“But I cannot announce the names to you. It is up to the party president or the Gabungan Party Sarawak (GPS) chairman to announce it,” she told reporters after witnessing the handing over of donations from the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) Welfare, Sports and Recreational Association to four hardcore poor families at PPR Batu Gong in Siburan today.
Chee said she fully supported SUPP president Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian’s statement last year of his stand regarding the seat.
She recalled that Dr Sim in October last year stated that the Mambong seat belongs to SUPP, saying that a person “can leave a political party, but the seat remains with SUPP”.
She expected Mambong would see a multi-cornered fight in the next state election.
“Those of you who have been following the past elections, Bengoh before and Mambong now, all knew that it used to be a hot seat, where many times we saw a multi-cornered fight.
“The next one is going to be the same and we hope the people in Mambong will come back to support SUPP in the next state election,” she said.
Assistant Minister of Transport Datuk Dr Jerip Susil was the last candidate to have represented SUPP in the state election in 2011.
However, he left the party and joined newly formed United People’s Party (UPP) before the party changed its name to Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB).
He defended the seats as a direct Barisan Nasional candidate in the 2016 state election before joining PSB.
Dr Jerip, however, had recently resigned from PSB to join Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB).