KUCHING: More than 500 delegates turned up for the United People’s Party (UPP) Extraordinary Delegates Conference (EDC) at KTS Garden here, yesterday.
In his welcoming speech, the party president, Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh urged for greater unity between UPP and Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) for the upcoming general election (GE14).
“We must come to the realisation that each of our party, UPP and SUPP, are forces to be reckoned with.
“Going separately or going against each other will do nobody any good, particularly for the Chinese community in Sarawak,” said Wong who is also Bawang Assan Assemblyman.
Wong, who is also the Minister of International Trade and E-Commerce and Second Minister of Finance said that Barisan Nasional (BN) lost badly in Sarawak when it came to the predominantly Chinese constituencies in the state during the last GE.
“It is a common fact that UPP and SUPP would want to have some share of these parliamentary seats in the next GE.
“Therefore, both parties must immediately work together assessing each other’s strength in identifying winnable candidates to represent the Chinese community.
“Only then can we build a more united Chinese community with greater representation in both the federal and state BN government.
“At the same time, this will enable us to work better for the greater unity with other communal groups in the country,” he said.
Meanwhile, during a press conference, when asked what contributed to the state BN’s loss in the predominantly Chinese areas in the state, Wong said that many factors have contributed to it.
“Many factors have contributed to the defeat of candidates in the last election.
“It’s not because of the strength of the opposition; we have to examine out weaknesses so that we can overcome them in the next GE,” he said, adding that he does not want to single anyone out.
Among those present during the EDC were deputy president, Datuk Dr Jerip Susil and vice-president and youth chief, Dr Johnical Rayong Ngipa.
