The United People's Party (UPP) has said it deserves to get the two remaining state seats of Meradong and Pelawan, both of which are also lobbied by rival Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP).

"UPP has winnable candidates in the person of Janet Lau and James Wong Hua Kiong. We urge the chief minister (Adenan Satem) to uphold his criteria of selecting based on winnability and we are confident that Janet Lau and James Wong are the most winnable candidates for the two seats," UPP secretary-general George Lo told reporters in Kuching today.

"The seats should not be sacrificed just to appease any party. Instead they should be allocated to the candidates best able to deliver for BN. Every seat counts," Lo added.

Janet Lau is the wife of the late Robert Lau Hoi Chew, SUPP's parliamentary representative for Sibu.

UPP, formed in 2014, is a splinter group from SUPP. As it is not formally affiliated with BN, its candidates are to resign to be allowed to contest under the BN ticket.

Lo said the party would not be supporting any UPP candidate who decides to go independent. "We will not support anyone who contests against the Barisan Nasional."

He called on the Chinese community to "come back to the government".

"We have never had a chief minister who has been so outspoken for racial and religious harmony and against bigotry and extremism."

Adenan, Lo said, has given more to Chinese education in two years than all the other chief ministers put together, by recognising the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) and the funding he has given to Chinese schools.

He added that Adenan has also supported the rights of native Christians to use the word 'Allah' in their worship.

"Above all else, Adenan has brought to the fore the position of Sarawak as a founding partner in the formation of Malaysia and our rights as enshrined in the Malaysia Agreement.

"Those rights were eroded in the past under the previous prime minister but Adenan is now fighting for the restoration of those rights to Sarawak," Lo said.

UPP's candidates are Dr Wong Soon Koh who will be defending his seat in Bawan Assan, Dr Jeril Susil (Mambong), Dr Johnical Rayong Ngipa (Engkili), Ranum Mina (Opar), Tiong Thai King (Dudong) and Hii King Chiong (Pujut).