THE signing of a memorandum of understanding between Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) and its former members in United People’s Party (UPP) tomorrow is off.

UPP Youth chief Johnichal Rayong told reporters at his party headquarters today the MOU is linked to the “reconciliation” drive by the two political parties.

“It’s postponed to another date (to be announced),” he said.

Rayong, who is also the assemblyman for Engkilili, said he has no idea why the signing was called off.

Asked for details of the MOU, he said: “Only the chief minister (Abang Johari Openg) and party leaders know.”

SUPP president Dr Sim Kui Hian did not respond to questions.

The Chinese-based SUPP, Sarawak’s oldest party, and UPP have come under increasing pressure to reconcile with calls for UPP to disband and its members to return to SUPP.

The fracture in the party stemmed from a protracted leadership dispute in the party’s 2011 party election between former president Peter Chin and former deputy secretary-general and Sibu branch chief Wong Soon Koh.

Wong, who was running to succeed Dr George Chan as president, alleged there were irregularities in the election of several branches in the lead up to the triennial delegates conference (TDC).

After alleging party leaders were siding with Chin, Wong filed a complaint with the Registrar of Societies (Ros).

In 2014, ROS found no irregularities and spared the party from de-registration.

This led to mass resignation by Wong and his supporters, who included the majority of its Dayak assemblymen. Rayong was one of them.

When SUPP blocked UPP’s Barisan Nasional (BN) membership application, the party continued its pro-BN stance and in the 2016 state election, the ruling coalition found a way around the tussle for seats between the two parties by fielding UPP incumbents as “direct BN candidates” in the defence of their seats.

In their last TDC in December, SUPP made a stand against the policy saying it will oppose any BN plan to again field direct candidates in any of Sarawak’s 31 federal seats in the 14th general election.

SUPP’s deputy president Richard Riot, who is human resources minister, said the policy was a “failed concept” as it defeated BN’s spirit of playing as a team.

Earlier, in his media conference, Rayong said UPP would support candidates contesting under BN, although a squabble over seats seemed to be looming with UPP laying claim to three seats – Bandar Sibu, Lanang and Sarikei.

BN traditionally allocates seven seats to SUPP.

In the 2013 general election, SUPP lost six of them – five to DAP and one to PKR.

All six seats are urban Chinese majority seats.

SUPP won only Riot’s rural Serian seat, a predominantly Dayak seat. – March 17, 2018.