Newcomer Keadilan today refuted Sarawak United Peoples' Party (SUPP)'s charges that the peninsular-based opposition party was interfering in local politics as campaigning for next week's state polls picked up pace.

Keadilan information bureau in Senadin, Miri, said the state constitution requires all candidates to be born in Sarawak, hence the accusations of SUPP politicians of "interference by West Malaysia parties" were baseless.

Borneo Post had earlier quoted Deputy Minister of Local Government Peter Chin Fai Kui as saying that there was no reason for opposition parties such as Keadilan to interfere in Sarawak.

Meanwhile, the daily also quoted Senadin incumbent and SUPP's candidate, Lee Kim Shin, as asking why Sarawakians should allow the opposition from West Malaysia to control their state.

"The statements implied that Keadilan is a foreign party. It is very sad that Lee, as a state assemblyman and the political secretary for Deputy Chief Minister George Chan, was ignorant of the Sarawak constitution," said the statement.

Lee won Senadin with majority of 7,757 votes in the1996 elections. He is facing Keadilan's Dr Teo Yu Keng, who is born in Kuching, in the next Thursday's poll.

Chinese Kapitan

According to Keadilan, SUPP's accusations of interference from West Malaysian political parties are unjustified.

"If that were so, then what were Barisan National leaders, including cabinet ministers from West Malaysia, doing here during the state elections?" asked the statement.

"SUPP is just like the MCA of West Malaysia. It pretends to act like a modern Chinese Kapitan, but is powerless to defend the rights of the Chinese community, like the right of mother-tongue education, and follow the orders of their political master of PBB (Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu), which is under the patronage of Umno," added the statement.

Keadilan claimed that such allegations showed that the ruling parties were seeking to divert the attention of voters from the ruling parties' blatant practice of "corruption, cronyism and nepotism that resulted in the wealth and resource of Sarawak in the hands of a few cronies".

The opposition party asserted that the people of Sarawak needed a strong opposition to check the abuses and corruption of SUPP.

Sarawak is having its eight state elections on Sept 27, which has been declared a public holiday. BN won four out of the 62 seats unopposed on the nomination day early this week.