High stake manoeuvre

By Johnson K Saai and Churchill Edward

Wong Judat (pic)

KUCHING: SPDP vice-president ready to sever ties with BN and side with the opposition.

SPDP vice-president Wong Judat is prepared to sever ties with BN and contest in Julau if Julau MP Datuk Joseph Salang was re-nominated to defend the seat in the coming general election.

Wong, who is also Meluan assemblyman, also declared that all reconciliation efforts to patch things up between him and Salang, who is from PRS, would be futile because all doors were “already completely closed”.

He claimed people in Julau had made it loud and clear they wanted Salang dropped and be replaced with someone from the area.

However, he said, their requests looked like they would be ignored as recent events indicated that Salang would be re-nominated again for the coming polls.

“It looks like our views and opinions have fallen on deaf ears because from what we know Salang will be retained. This will make the people angry because BN and PRS, in particular, have refused to listen to them.

“So now they are going all out to campaign against Salang. It is not that they are against BN or PRS. All they want is for Salang to be dropped in the coming election. If he is retained, which we believe he will be, the people in Julau said they don’t have any other choice but to vote him out.”

Wong, who apparently has personal grudges against Salang, did not rule out the possibility of him contesting against Salang in Julau.

He added that the recently-formed Sarawak Workers Party (SWP) was free to take him if it felt he is the best man to unseat Salang.

“If SWP thinks I am the most winnable candidate in Julau and wants me to fight Salang, we can always discuss it.

“As of now, I am still a member of SPDP, but in politics anything can happen. If what I am doing is against the principles of the party I believe there is a committee and the president to deal with it.”

Wong claimed people in the state seats of Pakan and Meluan (which forms Julau) were all geared up to pummel Salang.

“Efforts had been made for us to reconcile before but unfortunately it failed to materialise. Now, even if there are people who want to initiate reconciliation, I think our doors are already completely closed.”

When contacted yesterday, SPDP president Tan Sri William Mawan Ikom played down the controversies arising from Wong’s political moves by stating that it was “just a personal and trivial difference.”

“The party is not engaged in all these (controversies). We will continue to try to bring the two men (Wong and Salang) together. It (spats) will not be for long.

“I think in the end, BN’s superiority is beyond any individual or group interest. What is happening now (spats) is just rhetoric,” said Mawan, who is also state BN vice chairman and Social Development Minister.

Mawan advised observers to look at all the political happenings in the state objectively.

“What was put up by PRS earlier (sabotage) is not for me to comment, and I am not going to entertain any individual or group antics. I cannot comment prematurely.”

Mawan added that SPDP had a mechanism to deal with members who had gone rogue.

“I would like to remain as I am. We have a mechanism to deal with this.

“To us, one vote, one YB and one party counts. There is no time for us to outdo one another. We are all friends. In the end we would need each other to win the election.”