DAP in glee as SUPP fumbles

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 15:47

By Joseph Tawie

KUCHING: Its Sibu defeat continues to haunt the Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) as it stumbles along in trying to regain support. This is of course to the delight of Sarawak DAP, the victor in the May 16 by-election.

Last weekend, SUPP president George Chan gave the opposition party more ammunition when he spoke of refunds for those who had paid their land premiums before June 1, the date on which the rates were lowered, as Barisan Nasional promised during its Sibu campaign.

By saying that the government would consider only those who had applied for their discounts through SUPP, Tan exposed how insincere his party was in trying to portray itself as a champion of the people, according to the interpretation of Sarawak DAP secretary Chong Chieng Jen.

“The party should be fair to every citizen, including those who don’t support the ruling party,” said Chong, who is the MP for Bandar Kuching.

He said SUPP should not use the refund policy as a tool for gaining support and it should especially not threaten people.

Chan, speaking at the SUPP headquarters on Sunday, indicated that the state would not refund land owners who did not apply for it through the party. “It means they don’t need it,” he said.

He spoke of SUPP as part of a caring government and said the party would forward the collected forms to the government.

Chong challenged Chan, who is the deputy chief minister, to get the refunds remitted within a week since he had “so much confidence” in SUPP’s influence.

“I hope SUPP will not wait to announce the good news only during campaigning for the next state election,” he said.