Archive photo shows SUPP Kuching branch’s first committee members.
KUCHING (June 29): The Kuching branch of Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) has called upon its members to regroup and be united towards the goal of reclaiming the Padungan seat in the next state election, which should be called soon after the lapse of the State of Emergency.
“We wish to reiterate that, going by past precedents, it has always been the purview of the respective (SUPP) branches to nominate its candidates to contest – and Kuching Branch will not be an exception.
“We will reject any parachute candidate to avoid untoward consequences,” it said in a statement released ahead of the branch’s 62nd anniversary celebration today (June 29).
A ‘parachute candidate’ refers to an election candidate who does live in, or has very little or no direct connection with, the constituency that the candidate is eyeing to represent.
Adding on, SUPP Kuching said in looking forward without disregarding the past, it called upon all members wishing to ‘rejuvenate, reinvent, and realign the party’, to come forward and help ‘reinstall the past glory of SUPP’.
“Over the past 62 years, the forefathers of SUPP Kuching branch were adhering to the party’s founding principles. They had no self-agenda and practised collective leadership of not being afraid to go against the establishment for the sake of the people.
“This fine tradition must be passed on to all future leaders,” it stressed.
SUPP Kuching also said due to the pandemic, it could not conduct activities as usual, but it fully understood the concerns and the needs of the people.
“The branch continues working to improve the livelihood of the people, caring for the poor and the underprivileged groups, sending food aid to the needy folk, transporting senior citizens going for their vaccination.
“Due to the persistently high number of Covid-19 cases and the ensuing phases of Movement Control Order (MCO), everyone from all walks of life has been devastated, either due to job losses or business failures.
“We urge the Sarawak government to utilise its reserved funds to assist the hardcore poor and giving subsidies to the SMEs (small-medium enterprises). Furthermore, the authority’s penalty upon those who run foul with the MCO rules should be educational, rather than imposing on them heftier fines as this would only cause more suffering to the people.
“We hope that GPS (Gabungan Parti Sarawak)-led state government could devise its post-pandemic economic plan to resuscitate the economy the soonest,” it said.
SUPP Kuching was set up on June 29, 1959 – the second established after Sibu branch.
In the wake of the suppressive rule by the British colonial government, with immense courage and determination, the forefathers of SUPP Kuching were able to unite various branches across the southern, central, and northern regions, and planted SUPP flags in every imaginable corner.
Looking back, as the third and fourth generations of SUPP, the Kuching branch said it had the utmost respect for its forefathers for both their sacrifices and contributions made.
“We shall never forget their suffering from the many high-handed tactics during the eras of the colonial government and the Sarawak Alliance Government. Many of them spent a long time in the detention camp, and many even lost their lives in the name of their political struggles.
“It was after SUPP joined the coalition government in 1970 that the situation in Sarawak began to stabilise.
“To reflect on SUPP’s move in joining the coalition government in 1971, and into Barisan Nasional (BN) in 1974, there have been diverse opinions from all factions, but we believe it would be best judged by history,” it said.
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