KUCHING: No individual in the party has the right to make major decisions for the party, Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Kuching Branch Chairman, Datuk Lily Yong said yesterday.
Yong stressed that any big or major decisions must be made by the party.
“I think that is very important. Let the party take the lead, not the Ministers,” she told a press conference after the SUPP Kuching Branch’s Extraordinary General Meeting here yesterday.
“Ministers have too many vested interests. Whether we have alliances with other political component parties, that is another matter. But within SUPP, we must have a say for ourselves. I think that is important,” she said.
Yong added: “ SUPP doesn’t need a godfather. SUPP, whether we are rich or poor, whether there is money or not, it doesn’t matter. We can still survive with minimum amount and we don’t need a lot of money to spend. Because the moment you have a godfather, you will be forever controlled by the godfather.”
Yong said Kuching might not be a popular branch within the party for making such a move.
“But as a branch, we have been together with the party for 59 years. We are together as a team and our requests and our decisions are collective,” she stressed.
“We don’t want SUPP to be turned away again. We believe the objectives are correct during the formation of SUPP. We are not ashamed of SUPP’s three-ring logo. Leaders can come and go, but the party must stay and this is what we believe.
“We have to move on and rebuild the party’s good image, the image that dares to speak. This was present during the formation of SUPP in the 60’s.
“You dare to speak, you dare to stand together with the people. You know who are your bosses. Our bosses are the people. We have to go back and there is no other way. SUPP must have the people at heart and be with the people,” she said.
Yong explained that during the branch’s EGM yesterday, a number of suggestions were put forward for the amendment of the party’s constitution in order for it to be effective. The suggestions pertained to the party’s disciplinary committee, roles and responsibilities of the party’s Secretary General.
She added that candidates also had to be proposed and nominated by either the branches or the constituencies.
“We know that in the 14th General Election, the process of selecting the candidates was all very messy and we were all very unhappy. During the meeting just now, there was a hot debate on the candidacy. So we have requested that the party makes sure the candidates come from its branches or constituencies,” Yong said.
