Supp Youth unabated in wanting explanation
Malaysiakini
Oct  2, 2006
Tony Thien

This Friday’s central working committee meeting of the Sarawak United People's Party (Supp) is expected to be a heated affair with questions being raised on the direction of the party leadership.

A motion is expected to be tabled at the meeting to call for a special delegates conference to discuss “critical issues with bearing on the party's strength and future”.

Party president Dr George Chan, one of Sarawak's two deputy chief ministers, confirmed today the CWC would meet on Friday, and controversial Youth leader Allan Sim has given notice of his intention to table the motion.

The CWC is made up of all the party's elected representatives as well as those appointed to key positions in the party such as secretary-general, as well as representative from the youth and women's sections.

In recent days, the Supp youth wing has issued a demand for an extraordinary general meeting to explain why a party nominee was not appointed the new Kuching City South mayor.

The youth central exco went as far as saying that “if the need arises, there should be a change in the top leadership for putting the party in such a state in the eyes of members and the public”.

Talking to malaysiakini today, Sim said the party leaders owed an explanation to members on the party's recent loss of the Kuching City South mayor's post and also on the loss of eight out of 19 seats contested in the May 20 state elections.

He claims to have the support of the majority of the 72 members in youth central committee to table the motion.

He has already received the backing from Supp Kuching branch chairperson Lily Yong, who also failed to get herself re-elected in the state elections. She was also one of the candidates proposed for the mayor's post.

Gathering support

Supp had held the mayor's post for four decades until June this year when Supp branch leader Chan Seng Khai resigned as mayor following his failure to retain the Batu Lintang state seat.

The party had then submitted a list of names, but Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud preferred to give the mayor's post to a non-politician as is the case with the mayor's post for Kuching City North.

Sim said he was talking to every member of the CWC to get their support for his motion.

If the motion is tabled and accepted, a 40 days' notice is required before a special delegates conference can take place. Delegates will come from 34 party branches throughout Sarawak.

According to political observers, certain top leaders have tried to avoid holding a special delegates conference for fear that the issues raised could hurt the feelings of some state Barisan Nasional leaders.