KUCHING, April 24: Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg today announced that Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh will retire from politics after his current term as Bawang Assan state assembyman ends.
Soon Koh is the Minister of International Trade and E-Commerce and United People’s Party (UPP) president.
“Soon Koh will retire after this term. That is why his son Datuk Andrew Wong Kee Yew is now the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate for Sibu in the coming 14th General Election (GE14),” Abang Johari said a press conference after announcing the candidate list at Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) headquarters here today.
He said Andrew has joined Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) and will be contesting under the SUPP banner in GE14.
“I appreciate both leaders of SUPP and UPP for coming to a single platform and uniting together for BN,” he added.
On the new faces, Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) and SUPP are fielding six new faces each, while Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) is fielding two and Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) one.
“All the PBB incumbents who are not contesting has willingly stepped down for health reasons and also to give way for younger leaders. Therefore I thank all of them for making this decision to prepare our young leaders to move Sarawak forward,” he said.
Meanwhile, Abang Johari also said all of the state BN candidates were screened and cleared by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) and the coalition is set to go for GE14. — DayakDaily
