“Sim admitted during a Chinese New Year gathering in Kuching on March 1 that SUPP has a mountain to climb come the next state election.
“Sim will be up against two lightweights in Batu Kitang from PKR and DAP. The seat, given mounting anti-federal sentiment, could go to one of them.”
The basic premise is that SUPP, as a Chinese-based party, must be able to win not just one or two but several Chinese seats.
“Sim urged the local Chinese community during a meeting in Sibu to help save the party by giving it a chance to serve them,” The Ant Daily said.
The op-ed takes the line that SUPP’s four Dayak-majority seats are safe with the party unless Chief Minister Adenan Satem decides to give them to Teras, which broke away from the Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP).
“The Dayaks have been very accommodating towards the Barisan Nasional (BN) in every election.”
However, the party’s prospects in the state election are otherwise bleak. “If none of the SUPP Chinese candidates for the state assembly make it, it’s best to hand over the party to Deputy President and Serian MP Richard Riot, who is also federal Human Resources Minister.
“The party, in that case, cannot continue to claim to represent the Chinese. If the Dayaks are not willing to take over SUPP, then the party has to close shop.”
The op-ed quotes a political observer as saying: “SUPP is already considered a mosquito party. After being forced to share its seat allocation with its breakaway, United People’s Party (UPP), it will be reduced to a sand-fly after the election.
“SUPP’s dilemma is that Adenan wants it to share 21 seats, including two new ones, with UPP.”
SUPP lost 13 of its 19 seats — 15 being Chinese-majority — to DAP. It retained Bawang Assan in Sibu through Wong Soon Koh and Senadin in Miri through Lee Kim Shin.
Wong left SUPP in 2014 to form UPP. Lee’s chances don’t look too good in Senadin considering that he won the seat in 2011 against Miri MP Michael Teo of PKR by just 58 votes.
Walking down memory lane, the op-ed noted that SUPP was founded in 1959 against a background of Chinese poverty and strong anti-colonial sentiments.
Many party members joined the communists based in Kalimantan and waged a guerrilla warfare against the government until 1970 when they joined it.