KUCHING (Dec 12, 2011): Former Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP) president Tan Sri Dr George Chan alleged his party had "a very bad nightmare" in the last state election because the Opposition made an issue out of the long tenure of Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud to attract support among the urban Chinese.
"His refusal to step down and appoint a successor became an unnecessary diversion from our achievements," he wrote in his book "What Now?" which touched mostly on SUPP's struggle in the last three years of his presidency.
"The issue (on Taib) was further exacerbated by unfounded allegations of amassing a huge fortune while in office, which were posted in numerous websites, especially the Sarawak Report," Dr Chan, who failed to defend his Piasau seat in the state election, wrote in his book which was launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak last Saturday, immediately after he opened SUPP's triennial delegates conference.
He said: There were many distractions which hampered our preparations (for the state election).
"The Dudong issue kept resurfacing. The perceived ineffectiveness of SUPP within the state government, hard-hitting negative campaigning by the Opposition, internal positioning and bickering, particularly at the branch level, were all constantly resurfacing.
"All these sapped our time and energy, even our resources, somewhat," he said.
The Dudong issue concerned quarrel among senior members of the party over the formation of a branch in Dudong.
SUPP contested in 19 seats, mostly in the urban areas where the Chinese form the majority voters, losing 13 of them to the Opposition in the state elections.
Dr Chan noted with interest a statement from a civil society group leader, urging SUPP to abandon Taib or be buried in the state election.
"Looking back, it seems that what he said turned out to be factual. SUPP was almost buried after the April 16, 2011 election ," he said, conceding that the statement by the civil society group was a general feeling of the Chinese towards the chief minister and SUPP.
"Somehow, rightly or wrongly, his message sank down well with the urban voters who are Internet-savvy. His lies and half-truths made an impact and our publicity was unable to match that from Peninsular Malaysia," he said.
"If the May 20, 2006 electoral disaster was etched in our memory for a long, long time, then the April 16, 2011 results could be considered a very bad nightmare, for SUPP suffered its worst defeat in its history," he said.
"We worked so hard with the hope of retaining our seats from 2006 at least. But we were crushed. We lost 13 seats to the Opposition and became the biggest Barisan Nasional casualty," he wrote.
He said he knew he was about to lose his Piasau seat, which he had served since 1983, even before the final tally was counted.
"I was constantly being updated by our people at the party headquarters in Kuching and our operation room in Miri.
"One after another, our seats fell," he added.
Dr Chan said he bore no bitterness in his heart against anyone for SUPP's disastrous electoral performance.
"I will always maintain that this was an election where SUPP made all the right moves and had all the right strategies to win.
"However, so many factors beyond our control were at play and we were caught in its tail-spin and crushed," he wrote.
He said he submitted his resignation letter to the party to take full responsibility for the defeat in 13 seats, but the Central Working Committee requested him to stay on and see out the full term.
He said he then immediately set about looking for ways to prepare for a handover to the younger generation.
His word of caution to the government – make sure no community is sidelined or victimised, especially in the Opposition-controlled areas, otherwise, there will surely be additional retaliation in the 13th general election.
"His refusal to step down and appoint a successor became an unnecessary diversion from our achievements," he wrote in his book "What Now?" which touched mostly on SUPP's struggle in the last three years of his presidency.
"The issue (on Taib) was further exacerbated by unfounded allegations of amassing a huge fortune while in office, which were posted in numerous websites, especially the Sarawak Report," Dr Chan, who failed to defend his Piasau seat in the state election, wrote in his book which was launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak last Saturday, immediately after he opened SUPP's triennial delegates conference.
He said: There were many distractions which hampered our preparations (for the state election).
"The Dudong issue kept resurfacing. The perceived ineffectiveness of SUPP within the state government, hard-hitting negative campaigning by the Opposition, internal positioning and bickering, particularly at the branch level, were all constantly resurfacing.
"All these sapped our time and energy, even our resources, somewhat," he said.
The Dudong issue concerned quarrel among senior members of the party over the formation of a branch in Dudong.
SUPP contested in 19 seats, mostly in the urban areas where the Chinese form the majority voters, losing 13 of them to the Opposition in the state elections.
Dr Chan noted with interest a statement from a civil society group leader, urging SUPP to abandon Taib or be buried in the state election.
"Looking back, it seems that what he said turned out to be factual. SUPP was almost buried after the April 16, 2011 election ," he said, conceding that the statement by the civil society group was a general feeling of the Chinese towards the chief minister and SUPP.
"Somehow, rightly or wrongly, his message sank down well with the urban voters who are Internet-savvy. His lies and half-truths made an impact and our publicity was unable to match that from Peninsular Malaysia," he said.
"If the May 20, 2006 electoral disaster was etched in our memory for a long, long time, then the April 16, 2011 results could be considered a very bad nightmare, for SUPP suffered its worst defeat in its history," he said.
"We worked so hard with the hope of retaining our seats from 2006 at least. But we were crushed. We lost 13 seats to the Opposition and became the biggest Barisan Nasional casualty," he wrote.
He said he knew he was about to lose his Piasau seat, which he had served since 1983, even before the final tally was counted.
"I was constantly being updated by our people at the party headquarters in Kuching and our operation room in Miri.
"One after another, our seats fell," he added.
Dr Chan said he bore no bitterness in his heart against anyone for SUPP's disastrous electoral performance.
"I will always maintain that this was an election where SUPP made all the right moves and had all the right strategies to win.
"However, so many factors beyond our control were at play and we were caught in its tail-spin and crushed," he wrote.
He said he submitted his resignation letter to the party to take full responsibility for the defeat in 13 seats, but the Central Working Committee requested him to stay on and see out the full term.
He said he then immediately set about looking for ways to prepare for a handover to the younger generation.
His word of caution to the government – make sure no community is sidelined or victimised, especially in the Opposition-controlled areas, otherwise, there will surely be additional retaliation in the 13th general election.
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