KUCHING: Negotiations to end the dispute over the formation of the controversial Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Dudong branch broke down yesterday.
A special panel headed by party’s organising secretary Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui failed to mediate the feud between the factions led by Sibu branch chairman Datuk Wong Soon Koh and Dudong assemblyman Datuk Dr Soon Choon Teck.
The meeting at the RH Hotel in Sibu was called off mid-way after Wong and his delegation walked out because Dr Soon refused to withdraw Dudong branch’s official statement which he had presented to Chin at the meeting, said one of the representatives at the meeting.
Dr Soon handed over the statement to Chin when he was given the opportunity to speak.
The state Assistant Minister for Housing said the statement contained all that he intended to state.
Wong, who is also party deputy secretary-general and state Second Finance Minister, demanded for the statement to be withdrawn in order for the negotiations to continue.
The statement said, among other things, that all SUPP members, irrespective of their party positions, must respect the wishes of the 21 branches that have submitted their requisitions, based on party constitution, to convene a special delegates’ conference (SDC).’’
The conference is to endorse the formation and operation of Dudong branch, and to approve the branch committee headed by Dr Soon which was elected on April 30.
The statement also said that yesterday’s meeting would have nothing to do with the said requisitions of the 21 branches for the SDC.
Wong insisted that the SDC could not resolve the Dudong problems, and called for a fresh election to pick the branch’s new leadership.
Sibu branch deputy chairman Datuk Robert Lau Hoi Chew later accused Dr Soon’s faction of not wanting to compromise to solve the Dudong problem.
Chin, also Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister, told reporters that he would report the outcome of yesterday’s meeting to the party central working committee (CWC).
Chin is part of a five-member panel appointed by the CWC to find a solution to the Dudong dispute, which has now grown into a major party problem. Party secretary-general Senator Datuk Sim Kheng Hui is one of the five members.
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