Sunday 21 July 2013

‘SUPP not ready to nominate senator’

KUCHING: The SUPP central working committee (CWC) meeting yesterday did not touch on the topic of SUPP senatorship. That post has been left vacant for about two years.

Party president Tan Sri Peter Chin said more time was needed to reach “a good consensus” among branches, which had given inputs.

He declined to reveal names suggested by party branches, saying: “It’s an internal matter.”

“SUPP has only one senator post, and we have not yet come up with a candidate. In fact, we need to deal with this matter in a prudent manner,” he told reporters after chairing the CWC meeting at SUPP headquarters here.

Chin stressed that the appointment of a senator must be regarded as a serious issue for long-term effectiveness of the party.

“Therefore, we have to seek a consensus among the various branches that have proposed names. Furthermore, myself and Secretary-General Prof Dr Sim Kui Hian have excluded ourselves (from nomination).”

When pressed, he said: “Yes, I am excluding myself. But you may want to ask Dr Sim yourself.”

Dr Sim, who was also present, replied: “I don’t know. I am not the party president.”

Last month, Dr Sim said neither his nor Chin’s name had been submitted for consideration of senatorship, adding: “The party president will not nominate himself and his name is not in the list.

“Why would someone who resigned and retired from politics be interested in becoming a senator?”

The last SUPP senator was Datuk Sim Kheng Hui, who is Dr Sim’s predecessor and former Pending assemblyman. Sim’s appointment expired in Dec, 2010.

Sim was appointed a senator after he lost in the 2006 state election to DAP’s then greenhorn Violet Yong in Pending.-theborneopost

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