Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Call to purge SNAP of opportunists

FMT Staff | May 11, 2011

Responsible political leaders should 'atone for their sins by honourably resigning', said a former SNAP deputy president.

KUCHING: Sarawak National Party (SNAP) should purge itself of “political opportunists” before the general election.

A former deputy president of the party, Ting Ling Kiew, said if these “opportunists” refused to resign voluntarily, they must be pushed out.

“If they should refuse to resign voluntarily, SNAP members should immediately initiate an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to legally change the current leadership.

“As a strong supporter of SNAP for the last 30 years, I call upon the entire central working committee members to immediately resign and give way to new blood to revive and rejuvenate the party.

“They should take full responsibility for the humiliation it has brought to SNAP.

“They should not regard the party as their family’s personal property and make use of the party to make a living,” said Ting.

Ting was sacked as the deputy president of the party after the Sibu by-election last May when he called on SNAP members to support the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Robert Lau Hui Yew instead of the Pakatan Rakyat candidate Wong Ho Leng.

At that time, SNAP was a member of Pakatan comprising PKR, DAP and PAS.

But in the run-up to the recent April 16 state election, SNAP became embroiled in a seat tussle with PKR and has since pulled out.

‘Leaders must atone’

Ting said that many young professionals and qualified political aspirants have openly expressed their concern and their interest to join the party if the leadership changes were effected immediately.
“There is no more reason for the current SNAP leadership to hold on. By now, they should realise that they are incapable of helming the party and should give way to others.

“By holding on to their positions, they only prove that they are greedy, selfish and power-crazy people.

“Their continued presence in the party will eventually lead to the death of SNAP,” Ting warned.

The results of last month’s state general election was something for SNAP leaders to ponder seriously.

He said being wiped out and losing their deposits in all except in one of the 27 seats contested was the most humiliating “trauma” ever experienced by any political party.

“Responsible and decent political leaders with moral credibility should humbly atone for their ‘sins’ by honourably resigning en bloc to give way to new, young and responsible leaders to take over.

“Only then can the party be relevant and worthy enough for DAP to negotiate and come to terms with in the Sarawak political context,” he added.

Dundang may seek re-election

Meanwhile, SNAP president Edwin Dundang told The Star that he is considering seeking a fresh mandate as party chief in the party election in August.

He took over as president after James Wong stepped down in 2002 after helming the party for more than 20 years.

Under Dundang, the party had taken part in two parliamentary elections and two state elections.

Except for winning a seat in the 2006 state election, the party did badly, and the worst was the recent state lection where its 26 candidates lost their deposits out of 27 seats it contested.

Dundang himself lost his deposit in Marudi, a former SNAP stronghold.

2 comments:

underhand said...

Snap is sitting on the wall and waiting for the good. pls make up your mind and don't let people think that u are opportunists!

Anonymous said...

I am a Snap supporter.Snap is not sitting on the wall and Snap is not waiting for anyone to console them neither Snap is afraid of all the allegations made against them.As to Ting Ling Kiew,i suggest he should keep his mouth shut.First,he is no longer a Snap member,so what business does he has to advise Snap of what and what not to do.Second,Ling Kiew was in fact the real opportunist when he was in Snap.He went against the CWC decision and secretly went to KL to see Najib about so many things.Without Snap knowledge,he pledged allegiance to Najib as proven by what he did in Batang Ai and Sibu by-elections,and in return he was paid substantial amount of money by Kl.So,who is the real opportunist here?Who is making use of Snap here?.Who is turning Snap into his family business here?.To me,Ling Kiew is spitting into the air.He gave this kind of statement under the guidance of the honorable Francis Sial Mocs.Know what Francis Sial did during the last state election?He event went to Balingian asking for money from Salleh Jafarudin .Salleh gave him some just to avoid being badmouthed by him like he did to Snap.So who is the Soldier Of Fortune here,Snap leaders or Francis Sial?At least Snap got its little money by proper mean but not threatening people like Francis Sial did.I want to see if his August Demo will proceed ,i bet he wont as this is not the first time he wanted to do the same thing and at the last minute he disappeared,isn't he is a soldier of fortune?