KUCHING: Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) is determined to win back the Padungan state seat which it lost to the Democratic Action Party (DAP) in 2006.
Its potential candidates for the constituency, Bong Lian Huan and Jong Yean Pin are both going all out to assist the people there in order to win their hearts at the coming state election.
“We have lost the Padungan seat for the last three state elections and we have seen not much development and a lot of business activities have become stagnant.
“I believe if we (SUPP) are given the chance to be elected, we can do more and revive the business environment in the area,” Bong said.
He told this to reporters during a handing over of Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) flags to SUPP Kuching Branch’s Sekama area committee chief Tan Khon Son.
Meanwhile, Jong said preparation for the state election had commenced since a year ago as he deemed that it was important for the branch to understand the local issues and listen to the people’s heartbeat.
“Never mind the politics, I believe the people should be our top priority. We will listen more to the people’s issues throughout our preparation.
“As Padungan community’s concern leans more towards economic activities, we will work on how to develop them better especially to pick up after the Covid-19 crisis. To do that, we need political stability,” he pointed out.
Former Padungan assemblywoman Datuk Lily Yong Lee Lee who was also present at the event, expressed her thoughts on the preparation for the coming state election.
“The two potential candidates have been actively doing works on the ground since two years ago when their names were submitted for nomination to contest in Padungan.
“There is no official announcement yet on the final candidate as the decision will be made by the GPS leadership.
“However, the two have been working as one and it is not for us to say who is better than the other. Such unity within the branch is one of the reasons that made me confident that we will win back Padungan,” she said.
Yong had defeated Democratic Action Party (DAP)’s Chong Chieng Jen for the Padungan seat in the 2001 state election.
In the 2006 state election, Yong was defeated by Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR)’s Dominique Ng Kim Ho.
In the 2011 state election, the Padungan seat was won by DAP’s Wong King Wei which he retained in the 2016 election.
