The Sarawak United People's Party (Supp), which is seen by most political analysts as having a leadership credibility problem, has indicated it is ready to drop unpopular leaders at the next state elections.

george chan hong nam Party president Dr George Chan Hong Nam, who is one of Sarawak’s two deputy chief ministers and a close ally of Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud, has announced he is not going to seek re-election to his Piasau state seat.

There has been disappointment within his own party that he reversed his decision to quit at the party's recent triennial delegates conference.

law hieng ding However, leaders of feuding factions in the party, including former federal minister Law Hieng Ding, retained their party posts, except for the posts of youth and wanita chiefs which saw new faces.

Supp, one of the components of Sarawak’s ruling coalition suffered badly in the May 2006 state elections, losing seven seats to the opposition, mostly to DAP. The other three partners of the state government are PBB, SPDP and PRS.

sarawak state seat 2006 breakdown 011208 The party only managed to win one - Batu Kawa - of the four Chinese-majority seats in Kuching, the state capital, and also failed to retain Engkilili (which was won by an Independent) and also failed to unseat the DAP's Chiew Ching Sing in Kidurong).

The party also lost in Merang and Bukit Assek.

Two sets of office bearers

In spite of presenting a face of unity after the party elections two months ago, the factional feuding appears to be far from over.

wong soon koh The Sibu group led by senior state minister and deputy secretary-general Wong Soon Koh has refused to give in to the party president's staunch supporter Dr Soon Choon Teck's demand at being allowed to form the Dudong branch.

The long-established Sibu branch led by Wong has insisted it must have the final say whether the Dudong branch should be formed and by whom.

It favours the Lanang MP Tiong Thai King of the RH Group to lead the Dudong branch. Soon, an assistant minister, is unable to accept a No 2 role in the new branch.

The Dudong branch is now left with two sets of office bearers and the central working committee (CWC) is trying to find a solution to the problem.

Chan was quoted today by The Borneo Post as saying the issue is only a small one and should not be allowed to get in the way of the party's support to rejuvenate itself in preparations for the next state elections.

After his own announcement about not seeking re-election at the next state elections, due at the latest by 2011, he was also quoted as saying that senior party leaders know they will be dropped and be replaced by new faces and it is up to them to make the announcements either as a group or individually.

This appears to indicate that the feuding factions should not make a big fuss about Soon's case if he is not going to stand again in the next state elections.

Last week, Soon resigned from the post of party assistant information and publicity chief. He sent his letter of resignation to the party secretary-general Sim Kheng Hui, saying he could not perform his duties effectively.

‘Don't enlarge a small thing’

He had also told Malaysiakini that the Sibu group of leaders led by Wong had been boycotting him from all functions organised by the branch, including the joint Chinese New Year open house in Sibu this year.

Soon who is from Sibu is holding his own open house and was visited by the head of state Tun Muhammad Salahuddin this afternoon.

dr soon choon teck 230109 Soon told Malaysiakini by phone from Sibu that he had not given any thought on whether to attend the next party CWC meeting, scheduled after Chinese New Year if invited.

He decline to say whether he would withdraw his letter of resignation from his party post if asked to do so.

'That's all I am prepared to say for now,' he said after meeting supporters in Sibu today.

Chan said party members should not look at small matters because there were more important matters to attend to.

“It is just a small thing. Don't enlarge a small thing. The party wants to stay together, and I am calling everybody to work together. We have to look at the bigger picture and work as a team,” he said.

Most political observers say the party's biggest problem now is its rejection by the Chinese community, which voted out many of the party’s long-serving incumbents in Kuching at the last state elections.

“The party is suffering from a leadership credibility problem and retaining the same old tired faces does not help at all,” they added.