Even though the state election is only due a year away, Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) has named its candidates, with a warning to the state BN leadership not to “disturb” its list, as was done in previous elections.
Under the BN agreement and understanding, SPDP has been given eight seats to contest – Tasik Biru, Pakan, Meluan, Krian, Bekenu, Marudi, Batu Danau and Ba’Kelalan.
“Except for Bekenu and Batu Danau, the party supreme council meeting has endorsed the names of candidates for the six seats,” SPDP president Tiong King Sing said after chairing the meeting at its headquarters in Kuching yesterday afternoon.
The candidates are Cila Nasu for Tasik Biru, Kilat Briak (Krian) and Fabian Andrew Sigar (Ba’Kelalan), all who who are lawyers by profession.
Quantity surveyor Belayong Jampong will contest the Meluan seat, while businessperson Brian Fung has been named for Pakan, the seat of his former boss and Parti Tenaga Rakyat Sarawak (Teras) president William Mawan.
For the Bekenu and Batu Danau seats, SPDP is yet to decide on the candidates, although a number of names have been submitted to the party for consideration.
The naming of the candidates comes in the wake of claims by SPDP’s breakaway party, Teras, that it will contest some of the seats traditionally allocated to SPDP. Teras is not a member of BN, but it claims to be “BN-friendly”.
It is understood that Sarawak Chief Minister Adenan Satem, who is also state BN chief, wants the two parties to compromise – which could mean SPDP “releases” some seats to Teras.
‘The eight seats belong to SPDP’
Tiong said the supreme council discussed the coming state election and was very firm on its stand regarding the eight seats, adding: “The eight seats belong to SPDP, and winnable candidates will be selected from among party members.
“We will not accept any candidate from outside the party,” he said in an obvious reference that five of the candidates in the 2011 state election were actually PBB supporters. One of the candidates was selected in the 11th hour to replace SPDP’s candidate in Ba’Kelalan.
“That is why at the moment we have problems in the party, which were caused by these outsiders. That is why they do not have loyalty to the party,” he said, stressing that in the coming election, the party would only select loyal members as candidates.
SPDP sacked four elected representatives – Peter Nansian (Tasik Biru), Sylvester Entri (Marudi), Rosey Yunus (Bekenu) and Paulus Gumbang (Batu Danau) – for gross insubordination in 2010.
However, on the eve of the 2011 state election they were directed by the BN leadership to return to SPDP, but three months after the election, they started to create problems with the party leadership.
SPDP, which accused them of being “PBB members”, sacked them for the second time in November 2011.
Tiong said that this time around, his party would select its own candidates and would not tolerate any interference from any quarters.
Asked what would happen if the chief minister decided that some of the SPDP seats would be contested by Teras, Tiong said: “We will strongly oppose such a move, definitely.
“Other component parties cannot select candidates for us. We will propose our own candidates, and with full force, we will make sure we will deliver the eight seats!”
He said the party was naming its candidates early so that they could go to the ground from now on.
“They are given two months to go around their respective constituencies, and after that the party will evaluate the people’s response and the popularity of the candidates,” he said.
On the claim by William Mawan that Teras would contest some of the SPDP seats on the BN ticket, Tiong said that Mawan could claim whatever he wanted and SPDP is not bothered.
“That is not our business. We only look after our business and keep our house in order,” he added. — Joseph Tawie
Hornbill Unleashed 
Sad, once a power of Dayak politics but now a mere tool of one rich and powerful non Dayak and becoming more and more irrelevant.
Comment by brian — April 21, 2015 @ 1:03 PM |