By Nur Ashikin Louis
KUCHING, Nov 8: Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) has submitted its list of candidates to contest in 20 seats in the 12th Sarawak Election.
Its president Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian confirmed this when met by reporters after attending the launching ceremony of Batu Kawah Riverbank Park in Kuching today.
“Traditionally, 20 seats are allocated to SUPP. I have submitted the list to Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) chairman Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg,” he said.
The 20 seats are Opar, Padungan, Pending, Batu Lintang, Kota Sentosa, Batu Kitang, Batu Kawah, Mambong, Simanggang, Engkilili, Repok, Meradong, Bukit Assek, Dudong, Bawang Assan, Pelawan, Tanjung Batu, Piasau, Pujut and Senadin.
Of the seats, seven of them are currently in SUPP’s bag namely Batu Kawah whose incumbent is Dr Sim, Piasau (secretary-general Datuk Sebastian Ting), Senadin (vice president Dato Sri Lee Kim Shin), Meradong (Datuk Ding Kuong Hiing), Repok (Dato Sri Huang Tiong Sii), Simanggang (Datuk Francis Harden Hollis) and Batu Kitang (Lo Khere Chiang).
Five seats have been taken up by Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB), namely Bawang Assan (Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh), Dudong (Datuk Tiong Thai King), Engkilili (Dr Johnical Rayong Ngipa), Opar (Dato Ranum Mina) and Batu Lintang (See Chee How).
Meanwhile, Democratic Action Party (DAP) currently holds five seats namely Kota Sentosa (Chong Chieng Jen), Pending (Violet Yong), Bukit Assek (Irene Chang), Pelawan (David Wong), and Tanjung Batu (Chiew Chew Sing).
The Mambong seat is currently being held by Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) after its incumbent Datuk Dr Jerip Susil, who defended the seat as a Barisan Nasional (BN) direct candidate in the 2016 State Election, jumped from PSB to PBB in 2019.
As for the other two seats, Pujut has been left vacant since 2017 following the disqualification of DAP member Dr Ting Tiong Choon over Australian citizenship allegations, while the Padungan seat is considered independent after incumbent Wong King Wei quit DAP last year.
At the same time, Dr Sim remained tight-lipped when asked if there will be any new faces.
“But the seven incumbents will be defending their seats in the coming state election,” he added. – DayakDaily
