Abang Johari (centre), flanked by SUPP secretary-general Datuk Sebastian Ting and Dr Sim (right) shout ‘Sa’ati’ with party leaders. – Photo by Chimon Upon
KUCHING (May 21): Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) is ready to face the 15th General Election and contesting in its seven traditional seats, says party president Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian.
The seven parliamentary seats are Bandar Kuching, Stampin, Serian, Sarikei, Sibu, Lanang and Miri.
Dr Sim, who is the Deputy Premier of Sarawak, speculated that the general election might be held this year due to political instability at the federal level.
“The 15th General Election is crucial for Sarawak which wants the implementation of Sarawak’s rights that are written in black and white in the Malaysia constitution in December last year.”
He said SUPP had been raising issues related to Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) since 2013 and now they were in the final miles of realising the spirit of the agreement.
“Also, all SUPP assemblymen have been on the ground after winning the state election on Dec 18 last year,” he said during the party’s 27th Triennial Delegates Conference (TDC) at the party headquarters here today.
Dr Sim added that he had tried to allocate time every month to go to the ground with his newly elected assemblymen to tell voters that ‘a vote for each of the assemblyman is a vote for Dr Sim’.
He also commended the strong partnership of 52 years between Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) and SUPP in forming a political coalition and governing Sarawak since 1970.
“PBB and SUPP are partners in good and bad times, including the testing times in 1987 for PBB and from 2013 to 2015 for SUPP.”
Without a doubt, Dr Sim said both PBB and SUPP were reliable and loyal partners with over 50 years of proven history and records.
“Dec 18, 2021 is a testimony of what we can do together for Sarawak,” said Dr Sim said in reference to the landslide victory of Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) winning 76 out of the 82 seats in the state election.
Dr Sim said the huge mandate given to GPS to continue governing the state proved that Sarawakians rejected Peninsular Malaysia-based political parties.
Dr Sim led SUPP to wrest back several seats from Democratic Action Party (DAP) to win 13 seats in the last state election, an increase of six seats from the seven won in the 2016 state election.
The Deputy Premier added that the Land Code Amendment Bill 2022 and Sarawak Forest Amendment Bill 2022 that were passed in the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) last week was a clear testimony of GPS’s proactive action to turn plans into reality.
Speaking on the recent elections of 50 SUPP branches throughout the state, Dr Sim said there was a good mix of new and veteran members elected to the branch leadership, with 23 new chairpersons and secretaries in total.
“Be it new or veteran leadership, new or old party members, we are still having the same dreams and aspirations of our founding fathers 63 years ago for the people of Sarawak.”