Abbreviation SUPP Deputy President Richard Riot Jaem | President Sim Kui Hian Chairman of Central Youth Section Tan Kai | |
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Secretary-General Sebastian Ting Chiew Yew Chairman of Central Women's Section Jennifer Alice Chee Moinie | ||
The Sarawak United Peoples' Party, or SUPP (Chinese: 砂拉越人民联合党; Malay: Parti Rakyat Bersatu Sarawak; Iban: Gerempong Sa'ati Ra'ayat Sarawak) is a political party in Malaysia. The party is one of the constituent members of the ruling Barisan Nasional. It was established in 1959 mainly by leftists and working class Chinese, many of whom were members of the underground communist movement in Sarawak.
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History
For the first decade of its existence, many of its members were deported from Sarawak for communist activities. Several of its senior members moved across the border into Kalimantan where they took up arms against the Sarawak government.
In the early 1960s, SUPP opposed the formation of the Malaysian state. Along with Partai Rakyat Brunei and National Pasok Momogun Party, SUPP sent a memorandum to the United Nations demanding that the people of Northern Borneo be given right to self-determination and that the status of the area would be decided in a plebiscite.
In the Malaysian general election, 2008, SUPP managed to retain all of the seats it won previously. Compared to Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia and Malaysian Chinese Association, the party defended most of its Chinese majority seats from falling to the opposition, save for the Bandar Kuching Parliamentary seat, in which the Democratic Action Party incumbent managed to retain his seat.
On 9 April 2010, Robert Lau Hoi Chew, Member of Parliament of Sibu, and also Vice-President of the Party, died due to liver cancer. Deputy Secretary-General of SUPP, Wong Soon Koh had announced that they are ready for the upcoming by-election. They nominated Robert Lau's cousin, Robert Lau Hui Yew to contest for the Sibu by-election on 16 May 2010.
In the by-election, SUPP was beaten by a candidate from the DAP despite personal campaigning by the PM, Najib.
The current president of the party is Peter Chin who is a Federal Minister. He took over in 2011 after the then party president, George Chan, was defeat in the 2011 Sarawak state elections.
The future of the SUPP remains uncertain after its unsuccessful performance in the Sarawak State Election held in April 2011, in which it lost most of the seats that it contested.
On the 13th General Election, SUPP suffered a major setback. It only won 1 out of 7 seats contested, with them losing the contests in Stampin, Sarikei and Lanang to DAP, while Miri to PKR. Its only Bumiputera candidate, Datuk Richard Riot Jaem successfully defended the Serian seat.
Senators
- Sim Kui Hian – appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong