Were they sacked, Sih asks of those who left SUPP
KUCHING: Sarawak United Peoples’ Party ( SUPP) deputy secretary-general Sih Hua Tong yesterday threw back a question ‘ Were they sacked?’ when touching on the tussle between SUPP and United People’s Party ( UPP).
Met by journalists here, he said he did not intend to imply anything by posing that question but encouraged people to dig deeper into what actually happened in the past.
Sih said he himself was in the midst of looking into what had happened back in 2014 when the so- called sacking took place.
“Our memories of the past can mess with us sometimes. To find out what really happened back then, it’s best to refer to past reports and documents,” he said after attending a function at CityONE Megamall here.
He made these remarks when prompted for comments on UPP president Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh who recently, and had always said, that those who left were sacked by SUPP.
Sih said he could not offer more information because he was in the midst of finding out, but was quick to add that it mattered more for the Chinese leaders to ask themselves why they joined SUPP in the first place.
He opined that those who had left SUPP ought to come back to the big family but declined to propose the move.
Asked whether the party’s Central Working Committee (CWC) meetings in the past had deliberated this issue, he said: “I’m not at liberty to disclose, and I believe that what has been discussed at our CWC meetings should stay within the CWC.”
On political power- sharing, Sih said whether this mechanism would work out well depended on the conditions laid out by the parties concerned.
Asked if it would be a shock for SUPP if the Barisan Nasional ( BN) top leadership decides to field BN direct candidates in the next general election, he said: “Anything can happen in politics, and we cannot be naive.”
He said it was rare to see politicians stand by their words while there were uncertainties as far as politics was concerned.
“It seems to me that no one is sticking to what they say. So are you going to listen to just A or B or C?
“There was a time when people all hailed the United States as the benchmark of democracy but do you still listen to people shouting about it these days?” he added.
In May 2014, then SUPP president Tan Sri Peter Chin announced in Miri that the party had sacked Wong and demanded that Wong vacate his position as Bawang Assan assemblyman.
He said Wong had not sent SUPP any resignation letter and yet the latter declared at a press conference at the State Legislative Assembly ( DUN) Complex that he was joining Parti Tenaga Rakyat Sarawak ( Teras).
In June 2014, Wong told a news conference in Sibu that Chin had been so determined to show him the door that they sacked him not once, but twice.
Wong pointed out that the SUPP CWC had first slapped him with a show- cause letter in Dec 2013, asking him to explain why he should not be sacked.
“They then decided to sack me on Jan 10 ( 2014) during their CWC meeting, and this decision was published in the newspapers the next day. Then on May 16, they issued a letter sacking me again,” Wong was quoted as saying.
Wong, who was Minister of Local Government and Community Development at the time, said the show- cause letter listed three reasons why he should be sacked from the party.
SUPP was said to be unhappy with Wong’s appointment of Chinese community leaders, dissatisfied with the appointment of a council chairman and displeased with his recommendation of two candidates for the 2013 general election.