How to design your own failure
SUPP and UPP will have only themselves to blame if they suffer losses in the Sarawak election.
Since taking over the reins from Taib Mahmud, Adenan has been working hard to win supporters, especially from the Chinese community, which deserted BN in the last state election. He has put his money where his mouth is, especially with his support of Chinese education, which is dear to the heart of the community.
Adenan’s efforts have been seen as a lifeline for the SUPP and its splinter, UPP. If this proves inadequate, the two parties will have only themselves to blame.
Both parties have failed to get some of their leaders to buy into the BN philosophy. Worse still, perhaps, they have failed to purge such leaders. These include the sulking former SUPP and UPP leaders in Batu Kawah and Dudong.
In Batu Kawah, UPP’s former branch chief Liu Thian Leong quit the party to stand for election as an independent candidate. In Dudong, Benny Lee quit as Dudong SUPP chairman, also to stand as an independent. It looks like both have resorted to cutting off the nose to spite the face.
There are PBB members who have defiantly decided to stand as independents, but the party has sacked them. It is different in the case of SUPP and UPP. Both parties, unlike the PBB, are weak and should know that they could not participate in the election while on bad terms with each other and expect to defeat the mighty DAP, especially in urban areas.
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They never heeded the call for them to reach a compromise. So, no one will be surprised if the bad blood harms them come May 7.