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Monday, December 12, 2011

SUPP crisis worsens



The current SUPP crisis is not just an embarassment to the main players involved or the party's supporters but also the State.

Politicians like Wong Soon Koh and Peter Chin still don't realise that it's not about them but it's about the rakyat and their needs.

Anyone who still supports SUPP have probably been living under a rock or tempurung because nowadays arguably anyway, most people join politics not for the betterment of the people or State but to promote themselves, their business or the interest of certain groups.

SUPP should take a cue from MCA and Gerakan and do all it can to ensure they don't become so irrelevant that voters ignore them. In fact, they should remember what happened to Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) which got deregistered twice, in 2003 and 2004 and the Sarawak National Party (SNAP) which got deregistered in 2002 before it was brought back to life by the court last year. After PBDS was deregistered, James Masing formed the Parti rakyat Sarawak (PRS) before he locking horns with founder Daniel Tajem.

The sad truth is that if SUPP does get deregistered and Soon Koh forms a new party, there is no guarantee that there won't be a repeat of the Soon Koh-Peter Chin power struggle. It doesn't matter how many parties he forms because as long as everyone is fighting for power and no one wants to give in, the same thing will happen again.

One thing's for sure, this crisis has given voters, in particular Chinese voters in Sarawak something to think about and if SUPP is not careful, they may once again lose the support of the Chinese and quite possibly to DAP. Ironically,  the senior members in SUPP who support Soon Koh are not Chinese. This begs the question of whether Soon Koh can attract Chinese voters if he were to lead SUPP. Peter Chin is Najib's candidate for the job but some may feel that because he is based in West Malaysia he is out of touch with what's happening in Sarawak.

The crisis could also mean a further delay to the general elections since Sarawak is pivotal to Barisan Nasional (BN) retaining power.

Never has there been so much focus on one component party like there has been now.

Unfortunately, it is also publicity BN and more importantly Sarawak could do without.

**This is merely the writer's personal opinion. The writer is not affiliated with any political party or NGO in Malaysia.