By
Simon Peter
News
analysis
KUCHING, May 17, 2014: Strong
condemnations are expected against former SPDP president William Mawan and
former SUPP Sibu branch chief Wong Soon Koh when they resigned from their
respective parties to join year-old Parti Tenaga Rakyat Sarawak (Teras).
What
else is there to say, except to condemn them in the strongest terms possible?
As
soon as Mawan, Soon Koh and nine other elected representatives from SPDP and
SUPP defected to Teras, many were fuming made at them.
SUPP
president Peter Chin, even before he had received any official confirmation, reacted angrily at
Soon Koh for joining Teras. He immediately announced that Soon Koh had been sacked
from the party.
Again,
SUPP secretary general Sim Kian Hui issued a strongly worded statement today,
saying that SUPP condemned the unilateral action of Soon Koh to quit SUPP.
Soon
Koh's action to join Teras was
considered as a betrayal to the loyalty of SUPP and Barisan Nasional and to the
constituents of Bawang Assan State Constituency who had elected him in the last
State Election under BN/ SUPP ticket.
Sim
asserted "uncategorically that the
unilateral action of Soon Koh to join Teras and still remaining as a State
Cabinet Minister is against the spirit of Barisan Nasional Government."
As
such, he demands Soon Koh to resign as the State Assemblyman for Bawang Assan
Constituency and as State Cabinet Minister honorably with immediate effect."
SUPP
considers Soon Koh as a traitor to the party who had decided to join Teras
unilaterally and also brought with him three other elected YBs - Jerip Susil, Johnical
Rayong and Ranum Mina.
However,
as a matter of principle, SUPP wished to point out that all the four SUPP YBs
who had decided to join the new party could not bring with them the four seats
allocated to SUPP in the last State Election.
Similarly,
Sim strongly stated the party’s claim onto
19 state and seven pParliamentary seats. This, he said, was not negotiable.
Has
Soon Koh any choice left in SUPP, except to quit? He must be suffering from a
severe bout of migraine at the way he and his supporters were treated when they
were in SUPP. It is a small wonder that they only left a few days ago?
According
to Sim, SUPP would strongly oppose any application by Teras to be admitted as a
component member of the BN or even as a BN-Plus Formula.
The
party felt that the admission of Teras into the BN must be
"unanimous" based on the fundamental principle of the Barisan
Nasional Constitution.
Actually,
there is no point for the party to object if Chief Minister Adenan Satem wants
Teras to be in the government based on the Plus Formula.
Has
SUPP lost its memory that PBDS was in the government in 1983 based on a "BN3
Plus Formula"?
The
then Chief Minister Taib Mahmud had come up with the formula so he could retain
Daniel Tajem, PBDS deputy president, in his government.
SNAP,
led by James Wong, had strongly objected to the admission of PBDS into the BN,
but Taib, at the same time, did not want to lose the support of the Dayaks in
his government. Hence, he came up with the BN Plus Formula.
SUPP
and PBB then supported the formula, but not SNAP. But why is SUPP objecting to
the formula now?
As
far as Adenan is concerned, he is happy that Teras has given its full support
to his leadership.
He
is even willing to accept Teras into the State BN.
Like
SUPP, SPDP has already made its objection to the entry of Teras into BN.
SPDP
acting president Tiong King Sing had voiced his objection to Teras'
application, even before Mawan had parted company with SPDP to join Teras.
While
Adenan has a little problem with SUPP, there should not be any problem with
SPDP.
The
reason being that SPDP has no more state legislators left. It only has two
federal legislators in Tiong (Bintulu) and Anthony Nogeh (Mas Gading).
Adenan,
therefore, can disregard SPDP's objection. On the other hand, SUPP has two more
state legislators left - Francis Harden (Sri Aman) and Lee Kim Shin (Senadin)
and one member of parliament in Richard Riot (Serian).
The
bulk of state legislators from SUPP and SPDP have left to join Teras.
Tiong
can file his complaint with Prime Minister Najib Razak if Adenan decides to
accept Teras into BN's fold, but he must remember that in Sarawak, Adenan is
the boss.
In
the final analysis, SUPP and SPDP will gradually lose out before slowly disappearing
into political wilderness.
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