By Karen Bong
KUCHING, Oct 27: Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) Batu Kitang branch will fully support the candidate nominated by the party and Gabungan Parti Sarawak’s (GPS) top leadership for Stampin seat in the 15th General Election (GE15).
Commenting on speculation that he may be one of the potential candidates for Stampin, Branch chairman and Batu Kitang assemblyman Lo Khere Chiang expressed his appreciation and thanks for all the support, but he believes SUPP has made its decision on the most suitable candidate and is leaving it to GPS’ leaders to decide and announce the candidate.
Having been appointed the chairman of the liaison committee for Stampin for GE15, he emphasised that the aim is to not only to wrest back the Stampin seat from the Opposition, but to send all 31 GPS candidates to Parliament.
“This is so that GPS will have a distinct and determined voice in Parliament who will definitely champion Sarawak rights and not Malaya, unlike the Opposition parties.
“I think it is time not only for Stampin but the 31 parliamentary seats in Sarawak to be returned to GPS to bring the voices, wishes and demands of Sarawakians to Parliament. That is more important and that will make a difference, rather than giving two more seats (Stampin and Bandar Kuching) to DAP (Democratic Action Party),” he told DayakDaily when contacted.
Lo, who is also Padawan Municipal Council (MPP) chairman, said that he cannot see a good reason why the people of Sarawak should or would vote for the Opposition, especially after 22 months of being governed by Pakatan Harapan (PH).
“After all the broken promises as well as the mess and chaos the parties have created in Peninsular Malaysia, why should anyone vote for those parties?
Stampin has been under the DAP for nearly 10 years, while Bandar Kuching for a long 18 years. The incumbent for Stampin is Chong Chieng Jen, while Bandar Kuching is held by Dr Kelvin Yii.
Stampin constituency which comprises the three state constituencies of Batu Kawah, Batu Kitang and Kota Sentosa are presently held by SUPP.
“The three state constituencies are now seeing improvement. With (Dato Sri) Dr Sim (Kui Hian) in Batu Kawah, there are major developments ongoing there involving a lot of allocations.
“Batu Kitang is also seeing development and Kota Sentosa is also starting to see changes with many plans in the pipeline following the victory of Wilfred Yap during the last State election,” he said.
With that, Lo appealed to all Sarawakians including voters in Stampin to ensure returning all 31 GPS candidates to Parliament this time so that the flame of the “Sarawak First” torch under the leadership of Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg will be intensified. — DayakDaily
