STAR announces candidates for Sibu, Kapit and Bintulu
SIBU: The State Reform Party (STAR) will field three candidates in Sarawak for this coming election, says its president Lina Soo.
She has named secretarygeneral Simon Tiong Ing Tung as the party’s candidate for Sibu, vice-president Sai Malaka for Kapit and Chieng Lea Phing for Bintulu.
Soo made the announcement at a press conference here yesterday.
She says although STAR goes modest this time, it will go bigger in the 12th state election, which she predicts would be held earlier.
Meanwhile Sibu- seat hopeful Tiong, 50, said this would be his second appearance as an election candidate – his lost to Barisan Nasional ( BN) -Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu ( PBB) candidate Dr Annuar Rapaee in Nangka in the 11th state election in 2016.
“It doesn’t matter how many votes I will garner in the election. Taking part in election is all for the good cause of bringing the attention of the bigger parties to take notice of what STAR is aiming for.
“We are the fi rst party to touch on the needs to fight for our ( Sarawak’s) rights as enshrined in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 – now both the BN and PH (Pakatan Harapan) have agreed to that.
“We will move on from there. Now we want Sarawak’s identity to be given back to Sarawak, as enshrined in Sarawak Constitution Article 1 Clause 2,” he said.
Unlike Tiong, the GE14 would be the first experience for 53-year-old Sai, who hails from Katibas but had studied in Johor.
He returned here in 2016 to join STAR.
For him, the choice of STAR as his platform was based on the party ‘being multi-racial and fighting for the rights of Sarawakians’.