SPDP names its six candidates for state elections

By Simon Peter

KUCHING, April 20, 2015 - Sarawak Progressive democratic Party (SPDP) has named six of its candidates for the state elections while another two will be announced later.

At a dinner Saturday night, SPDP president Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing introduced the six to reporters.

They are lawyer Cila Nasu for Tasik Biru, lawyer Kilat Beriak (Krian), quantity surveyor Belayong Jampong (Meluan), businessman Brian Fung, lawyer Fabian Andrew Sigar (Ba'kelalan), a senior government officer for Marudi.

From left: Cila Nasu (Tasik Biru) and Belayong Jampong (Meluan)

The names of the candidates for Bekenu and Batu Danau seats will be decided after evaluating the winnability of two or three names.

On the six already picked, Tiong said their acceptability and winnability will be assessed over a period of two months.

"They will also be asked to go to the ground to identify themselves with the voters. They will be evaluated based on the ground support," he told reporters after chairing the party supreme council meeting on Sunday.

In the 2011 state elections, SPDP lost two out of eight seats it contested.

Tiong said SPDP will not be cowed into accepting candidates who are not party members or members and supporters of other state Barisan component parties. 

He said the candidates to contest in these eight seats must be SPDP members.

"We do not accept candidates from outside the party anymore to contest in our seats," he said, explaining that some of the candidates in the past elections were not from the party, but forced upon the party to be its candidates.

"That is why their loyalty is not to the party... that is what causing the problem we are facing now," he said without being specifics, but he is believed to be referring to Datuk Sylvester Entrie (Marudi), Datuk Peter Nansian (Tasik Biru), Rosey Yunus (Bekenu) and Paulus Gumbang (Batu Danau), who are PBB supporters before being recruited to contest in seats allocated to SPDP.

Kilat Beriak (Krian)

Brian Fung (Pakan)

Fabian Andrew Sigar (Ba'Kelalan)

 

Entrie, Nansian, Rosey and Paulus are now members of a breakaway group, Parti Tenaga Rakyat Sarawak (Teras), led by former SPDP president Tan Sri William Mawan, who is also the State Minister of Social Development.

Tiong, who is also Bintulu federal lawmaker, said SPDP will go all out to ensure that its candidates will deliver the seats for the Barisan Nasional.

"We have to work hard to ensure victory of the Barisan," he said.

"Definitely we are against other component party selecting candidates for us. It  has to stop. We pick our own candidates as we will go all out to deliver our seats for the Barisan Nasional.

"We want to  have our own members contesting as our candidates," he said, adding that they may be not be divisional or branch leaders or active before, but it does not mean that they cannot become candidates.

"As long as they are winnable candidates, we should propose their names and give them a chance," he said.

 On Teras' insistence that its five incumbents be retained as they are winnable candidates, Tiong said Teras can claim anything for all it wants.

"We don't bother what they want to claim...that's not our business. We look at the business of our own house and we concentrate on it," Tiong, who is also MP for Bintulu, said.

"In our meeting just now, we have already discussed and we decided to stand very firm that we will contest all the eight seats.

"These are the seats belonging to us, not to any other party," he said.