Sarawak Chief Minister Adenan Satem announced 10 Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP) candidates for the state election, down from the traditionally allotted 19.

He has again postponed announcing BN direct candidates.

Adenan has yet to finalise the full list of candidates, delayed by fractious infighting among its components.

"I will from time to time announce the other candidates. It will all be done at least one week before nomination day," Adenan, who is Sarawak BN chief, told reporters at his office today.

He added that he would announce another candidate for Repok on Friday

The SUPP candidates announced today are: Peter Pau for the Padungan state seat; Milton Foo (Pending); Sih Hua Tong (Batu Lintang); Wilfred Yap (Kota Sentosa); Lo Khere Chiang (Batu Kitang); Francis Harden (Simanggang); Chieng Buong Toon (Bukit Assek); Sebastian Ting (Piasau); and Lee Kim Shin (Senadin). Only Francis and Lee are incumbents.

SUPP president Dr Sim Kui Hian, 51, will contest for Batu Kawah, currently held by DAP's Christina Chiew Wang See, 30, a former party assistant who is serving her first term.

Adenan, who leads PBB, has said the Malay and Dayak-based component party would contest 40 of the 82 seats, including five of the 11 newly created seats.

Breakaway leaders

The Dayak-based Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) will contest 11 seats. The remaining seats are expected to be divided among the mostly Chinese-based SUPP and the majority Dayak-based SPDP (Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party) and their respective splinter groups United People's Party (UPP) and Sarawak People's Energy Party (Teras).

UPP, led by former SUPP deputy secretary-general Wong Soon Koh, broke away from SUPP in 2014 following its party polls. Currently, SUPP has only one parliamentarian and two state lawmakers.

Teras is led by former SPDP president William Mawan. Both parties skirted de-registration by the Election Commission.

As a compromise, the ruling party said it would field the breakaway leaders under the BN ticket, promising that the lawmakers, if elected, would formally register as party components.

SUPP lost 13 of the 19 seats it contested in 2011 following voter backlash after 11 Christian churches in Peninsular Malaysia were vandalised. The attacks came on the heels of a legal row over whether Christian publications could use the word 'Allah'.

Other issues that drew voters away from the state BN included protracted land lease issues, perceived corruption in the tendering process and high oil prices.

Brent crude prices recorded a monthly high of US$126.59 in April, 2011, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration website.

The Dayaks comprise the Iban, Bidayuh and Orang Ulu sub-tribes, forming two-thirds of the state's 2.6 million people.

At least 46% of the population are Christians, according to the census. Malays and Chinese constitute 23% each while the Melanau, an indigenous group, make up 5% of the population.

Sarawak governor Taib Mahmud, who served 33 years as chief minister, is an ethnic Melanau, while Adenan is of Malay descent.