Supp denies Richard's resignation
Malaysiakini.com
Mar 21, 2008

Supp president Dr George Chan Hong Nam has denied that Serian Member of Parliament Richard Riot has left the party due to dissatisfaction for not being appointed to the federal cabinet. MCPX

george chan hong namSpeaking to Bernama yesterday, Chan said that the party had not received any resignation letter from Richard, a Bidayuh and five-term MP for Serian.

"The party secretary-general and I have not received anything yet. I don't think it (rumour) is true. I have tried to contact him but to no avail," he said.

He however admitted that Richard was a bit "upset" after he was not appointed to the federal cabinet.

Chan said he advised Richard to be patient as the party was trying to work out a solution for him.

"There is rumour saying that he wanted to join the opposition but up to now, we still cannot get in touch with him. I have asked YB Ranum (Mina)and YB Francis (Harden) to look for him as he could not be contacted," Chan said.

Chan said he had recommended Richard's name together with party organising secretary Peter Chin Fah Kui and the two vice-presidents (Robert Lau and Yong Khoon Seng) for federal cabinet positions.

However, only three of the four were allocated posts - Chin (Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister), Lau (Deputy Housing and Local Government Minister) and Yong (Deputy Works Minister).

'Give him another post' 

"When I submitted the names, I had hoped that every one of them would get, including Richard, whom I recommended for a parliamentary secretary's post.

“However, since the prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi decided to do away with the post, Richard was not in the list," said Chan.

He said he hoped the premier would consider Richard for another post.

richard riot 200308Richard first stood for the Serian seat, a predominantly Bidayuh constituency, as an independent candidate in 1990 and later joined SUPP.

In the recently concluded general election, he defended the seat for the fifth term by defeating SNAP candidate Sylvester Belayong Jayang with a majority of 13,427 votes.

SUPP contested seven parliamentary seats and lost only one (Bandar Kuching) to the DAP. If Richard's resignation turns out to be true, the party stands to lose one more seat.

Yesterday Malaysiakini reported that Richard submitted his resignation letter to Chan on the same day that Abdullah announced his new cabinet line-up on Tuesday.

Richard is expected to be an Independent MP in Parliament although there are reports that he has shown interest in joining PKR.

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