SUPP closes door to UPP pact

PETALING JAYA: The Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP) dropped a bombshell on Monday when it announced that it will contest 21 seats in the upcoming Sarawak polls, denying it will share seats with its splinter, the United People's Party (UPP).
The move closes the door to any reconciliation with UPP.
The UPP is willing to cooperate with the SUPP so long as they get to contest under the BN umbrella but the SUPP, after announcing 21 seats, appears to have closed the door, political analysts said.
"The UPP is willing to bury the hatchet but not the SUPP," one political analyst said.
UPP is eyeing nine seats as their "rightful" share of the 19 seats that the SUPP traditionally contests.
SUPP president Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian said the party will contest all its traditional Chinese majority seats, plus five Dayak seats and one or two of the new 11 seats.
"SUPP has 21 credible and winnable candidates to add to Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem's team," he told reporters at the SUPP Chinese New Year open house.
He also denied newspaper reports that the party will share seats with UPP.
In the 2011 state elections, SUPP contested 19 seats but lost 13 of them to the opposition.
The loss led to massive infighting that saw some leaders leaving to form UPP.
Dr Sim said as a founding member of the state BN in 1972, SUPP has always remained "steadfast and loyal" to the coalition.
"SUPP has identified 21 credible and most winnable candidates for its 21 seats," he said.
He announced candidates for 16 Chinese majority seats while the remaining would be announced later.