Is UPP’s Soon Koh lying about infighting in SUPP over seats?

QUICK TAKE: Why did Wong Soon Koh set up his new party, UPP, in 2014?

The answer is simple - he could not become the president of SUPP.

Not only was he unsuccessful in becoming the SUPP president in 2011, Soon Koh also failed to ‘destroy’ SUPP after making several attempts to get his former party deregistered.

Talk of being ungrateful, this is a classic example. Lest the man forgets, it was SUPP which launched his political career and gave him the public status (and the accompanying power and wealth) that he has today.

And Soon Koh has not stopped hitting out at SUPP as the state election looms.

In a recent interview with The Borneo Post, the UPP president claimed that SUPP leaders were fighting among themselves over the choice of candidates in certain seats.

The paper quoted him as saying, “In Dudong, they are quarrelling as there are two camps. Earlier, it was Dr Benny, and now Dr Soon Choon Teck has come out to nominate another one. In Bintangor (Meradong), two factions are quarrelling - Ting Check Si and Ding Kuong Hiing groups. Even in Sarikei and Repok, they are also fighting.

“In Kuching, Dr Sim Kui Hian might contest in Batu Kawah. But Lily Yong came out with a statement, saying “Don’t hide in a safe seat. Be a man enough and stand in your own constituency in Pending” as reported in The Borneo Post. In Pending now, there are two candidates fighting. Even in Batu Kawah, there are two or three candidates fighting. And in Padungan, there are three candidates fighting among themselves”.

In response, a SUPP leader told Soon Koh off, telling him not to create animosity within SUPP but to mind his own business.

“He (Soon Koh) will make use of every opportunity to gun us down but we are more united than ever after he and his group left SUPP,” the SUPP leader from Kuching told The Ant Daily.

“At best, Soon Koh is lying about infighting among SUPP leaders for the seats in question. We have more or less finalised our list of candidates for the seats we intend to contest and there is no jostling for them”, he clarified.

He described Soon Koh as a desperate politician who is unsure whether he would even get to defend his own (Bawang Assan) seat come the elections.

“Here is also a man who has publicly announced that his party would help SUPP in our areas but once our backs are turned, he spoke so badly about us.

“How can we even trust such a person, let alone to work with his party”, he added. -The Ant Daily