KUCHING: Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) and its splinter party, United People’s Party (UPP), should merge in order to regain the votes from Sarawak’s Chinese community ahead of the 14th General Election (GE14).
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, said he has already obtained feedback - both official and unofficial - from both parties on the proposed merger.
“It is Barisan Nasional’s wish to see the merger realised, but as for now, these efforts must be focused on preparing for the general election.
“If there are cases where candidates from either party are chosen to represent BN in GE14, I gope that both parties will lend their support to each other’s candidates to ensure a win for BN,” he told a press conference after attending a briefing at the Sarawak police headquarters here.
SUPP is a Sarawak BN component party, spearheaded by state Local Government Minister Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian, while UPP is a BN-friendly party which has yet to be accepted as a component party, is headed by state Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh.