Not ‘SUPP Lions Club or SUPP Rotary Club’, Dr Sim says of his party

KUCHING: Sarawak United People’s Party ( SUPP) president Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian has said the party is not ‘SUPP Lions Club or SUPP Rotary Club’.

He said this yesterday when prompted for comments on United People’s Party ( UPP) having openly stated that they should be prepared in the event that a Pujut by- election is called.

It is believed that the SUPP chief was implying that the party is not a service organisation like Lions Club or Rotary Club.

He neither elaborated on the point nor was he asked to comment further when met by reporters after attending a function at the Sarawak Turf Club here.

An attempt to get clarification from him after the function was not successful as at press time.

I cannot rule out the possibility that you or I would not die tomorrow.

Dr Sim, who is Minister of Local Government and Housing, declined to give a direct reply when asked whether SUPP would be vying for the state seat which fell vacant after Democratic Action Party ( DAP)’s Dr Ting Tiong Choon was disqualified as the elected representative on Friday.

Instead, Dr Sim said: “The seat belongs to Barisan Nasional ( BN) component parties.”

Asked if he would rule out the possibility of BN fielding a direct candidate, Dr Sim said: “I cannot rule out the possibility that you or I would not die tomorrow.”

He also quickly added: “The BN direct candidate would have to resign from the party. Again?”

During the last state election, seven candidates of UPP had to resign from the party in order to stand as BN direct candidates.

Dr Sim stressed that under the BN principle, only candidates from BN component parties could contest under the ticket of BN in any election.

When pressed if SUPP was interested in Pujut by- election, he said: “How do you know there would be a by- election? They ( DAP) said they would bring the matter to court.”

He also added: “We are a political party. SUPP is not SUPP Lions Club or SUPP Rotary Club.”

Asked whether SUPP had a candidate or two for the byelection, if called, he said the party must have a candidate whenever the need arose.

However, he refused to disclose how many potential candidates SUPP would have in the event of a by- election for Pujut.

On Saturday, UPP secretary general George Lo said the party should get ready for a Pujut byelection given that BN allocated the seat to the party during the last state election.

“I believe in all likelihood, a byelection will be called for Pujut. Pujut is a seat that was allocated to UPP to contest in last state election. And therefore, UPP must be fully prepared in the event that the byelection is called,” said Lo at the party’s Extraordinary Delegates Conference.

On Friday, Minister of International Trade and ECommerce Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh, who is also UPP president, moved a motion that led to 70 members of the State Legislative Assembly ( DUN) voting in favour of having Dr Ting disqualified as an elected representative.

Only 10 members of the august House voted against the motion.

Dr Ting was found to have infringed the State Constitution as he is said to have held dual citizenships before the last state election.

Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian, SUPP president