Pelagus seat is not open for negotiations even if the incumbent Larry Sng were to be accepted into SUPP, Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president Dato Sri Dr James Masing said yesterday. 

“If SUPP wants to accept Larry (Sng), that is their business. PRS has no objection. After all, Larry is not a member of PRS.

“But please take note that Pelagus is PRS’ seat. It is not negotiable,” he said when met after he officiated at the Sarawak Masters golf tournament at Kelab Golf Sarawak (KGS) here.

He pointed out that Sng, if accepted into SUPP, should instead stand in one of the eight seats which SUPP lost in the 2006 state election.

“If SUPP thinks Larry is critical to its administration, there are eight seats in SUPP where Larry can contest. After all he has been described as a young Chinese leader … Let the Chinese decide his fate, not the Dayak voters,” he said.

Asked if the party would accept the partyless Sng, its president Datuk Seri William Mawan said the matter should be left to the leaders of Barisan Nasional to solve. 

“As far as SPDP is concerned, Wong will defend Meluan in the next state election,” Mawan said, stressing that SPDP leaders and members must be resilient to attempts by “some quarters out to destabilise the party”.

Mawan, who holds the Social Development and Urbanisation Minister portfolio, was referring to words being spread in Meluan that partyless Pelagus assemblyman Sng would replace Wong in the coming state election.

“What these quarters are doing is to make Wong anxious and worried. But like I said before, all eight SPDP elected representatives will defend their respective seats come the next state election, and that means Wong will defend his seat,” Mawan said.

The Borneo Post was made to understand that people in coffee shops and longhouses in Julau were talking about Wong’s likely exit to make way for Sng in what many locals there saw as the solution to the Pelagus assemblyman’s partyless dilemma.

The candidates must fully support the Barisan Nasional (BN), said Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud who is also the state BN chairman.

“It doesn’t matter if those you propose are partyless. For the sake of the future of the Chinese, you must choose good leaders,” he said when he officiated at Hunyuan Hexiang Zhuang Qigong’s tenth anniversary celebration at Miri Indoor Stadium last Friday night.

The state BN needs effective Chinese representatives who can work closely with other races on common aims and aspirations, he said.

 

The run-up to the next state election recently heats up with the Barisan Nasional (BN) ‘expressing’ their dilemma over the status of partyless Pelagus assemblyman Larry Sng.

Recent political development started off with state BN chairman Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud’s speech last Friday night in Miri, hinting to the Chinese that they should rope in or accept capable and/or proven leaders who are close to the BN fold.'  

Not a few also thought that Taib may be talking about Sng who is an Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department and Assistant Minister of Youth and Training of Youth.

Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud wants to keep Pelagus assemblyman Larry Sng in Barisan Nasional although the latter is now partyless.

He said that Sng had not been kicked out of the coalition although the Barisan supreme council had rejected his application to be a direct member.

He pointed out that Sng, who is an Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department, is a loyal Barisan member.

“I will keep him as he is useful and his loyalty to Barisan is unquestionable,” Taib told reporters after the Kuching City South Council Chinese New Year gathering here yesterday.

“Some do not want to be involved in politics, while some may not want to be in any political clique. Some only want to play supportive roles,” he said.

Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) president Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan hinted that the party would consider admitting partyless Pelagus assemblyman Larry Sng if he is accepted by the people.

Dr Chan was asked for comment on the possibility of Sng (who was sacked in April 2008 from Parti Rakyat Sarawak — PRS) joining SUPP as he is still partyless.

He said: “We are not so exclusive where nobody else can get in. This is why I keep on saying that the party wants to open our door to anybody who wants to join us to promote or help us to serve the people.”

Dr Chan who is also deputy chief minister wants SUPP to be open as possible.

The party must be open and inclusive of anybody and getting as many people to join as possible. However, Dr Chan admitted that it was not easy to find people as politics require a lot of sacrifices.

“To be a good politician is very difficult. So if you have the right people with right attitude…we would welcome them with open arms.”

 “It is the people who decide. So if you want to win in an election, you have to choose someone who fulfills that sort of criteria. They are the people’s choice.”

If the choices are not party members, they would be the best, but they should subscribe to the party’s struggle.

“In the event that we cannot find the candidates, then we get people from outside. However, the priority must be our own people.”

Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud on Friday night sent a cue, apparently directed at SUPP, to bring in capable people to be their candidates in the next state election.

“(Even) if they are not party members, as long as they support the government, as long as they got something to contribute, bring them in, get them to be candidates,” Taib said at the dinner.

Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) does not know where to fit in partyless Pelagus assemblyman Larry Sng.

Its president Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan said even Sng, who is an assistant minister in the Chief Minister’s Department, has not made any move to show that he is interested in joining SUPP.

When told that SUPP has many seats, particularly Meradong, which Sng can contest in during the next state election, Dr Chan said it would be normal for SUPP grassroots members in any respective constituency to feel uncomfortable with an outsider.

When met at his home on Thursday night, Dr Chan said Sng has yet to knock on SUPP’s door.

Meradong was specifically mentioned because it was first thought to be the most suitable place for Sng to stand in and also help the Barisan Nasional (BN) to wrest the seat from the Democratic Action Party (DAP).

Meradong has been speculated to be the safest seat for Sng because he may be able to take advantage of the fact that Meradong is in Sarikei, the hometown of his prominent businessman father-in-law Tan Sri Ting Pek Khing.

Earlier this month, Dr Chan, who is a deputy chief minister, hinted that he did not mind to take in Sng provided that he is the people’s choice.

Dr Chan made the statement immediately after Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud hinted in Miri that he wanted the Chinese to rope in all proven and capable leaders who are close to the BN fold.

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The political saga surrounding partyless Larry Sng has taken a new twist – he is not accepted as Barisan Nasional (BN) direct candidate to defend the Pelagus seat in the coming state election.

According to an inside source, the decision was made during Friday’s BN Supreme Council meeting in Kuala Lumpur chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, and attended by all BN component parties.

The source said the decision was made based on a provision in BN that “any party member who has been sacked cannot enter through the back door.”

All leaders of the four state BN component parties were present during the meeting with Najib, including Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, who is also state BN chairman.

“The decision not to accept him (Sng) was unanimous and his case was not even debated by all the BN component parties,” said the source.

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