Dr Mahathir Equally Suprised by SUPP's Loss of Eight Seats
Bernama – 25/5/2006

TOKYO - Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, equally surprised over the Sarawak United People's Party's (SUPP) loss of eight seats in the Sarawak state election last week, said a post-mortem must be undertaken to find the reasons for their dismal showing.

"The BN (Barisan Nasional) has to find out why some of the electorates in the state were disappointed that led them to support the opposition," he told Bernama in a brief interview here Thursday.

Dr Mahathir is in Tokyo to moderate discussions on the second day of the 12th Nikkei international conference Friday on the "Future of Asia."

He also said he had been attending the Nikkei conference since it was initiated 12 years ago, but he no longer delivered the keynote address as it was a privilege reserved for the Malaysian Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Thursday morning delivered the keynote address where he outlined challenges to the creation of an East Asian Community.

The SUPP lost eight of the 19 seats contested in Kuching, Bintangor, Sibu and Bintulu with six seats to the DAP and one each to Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and another to Sarawak National Party (SNAP).

The seats were for the state constituencies of Pending, Kota Sentosa, Padungan, Batu Lintang, Engkilili, Bukit Assek, Kidurong and Meradong.
Source: www.bernama.com