Peter Chin Fah Kui, who has been Miri member of parliament (MP) since 1990, has finally broken his silence on his political career, saying that he will not contest in the coming 13th general election but will remain as the Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) president until 2014.

peter chin Chin (right) , who is also Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister, said the party publicity and information secretary, Sebastian Ting Chiew Yew, had been proposed to replace him for the Miri parliamentary seat.

“I had served so many terms already and this will be my last term,” he told reporters after attending the breaking of fast with heads of department and Barisan Nasional (BN) component leaders in Miri last night.

Chin said his decision not to contest was to pave the way for younger leaders to come forward and take the leadership role as part its efforts to transform SUPP as well as to counter criticisms that the party was meant for the ‘oldies’.     

“When I took over the party, my principle was to give the younger leaders a chance to take over the leadership. That was the reason why I contested for the presidency last year,” he said.

“I strongly believe the Chinese community will understand what I am trying to do. I believe the Chinese community will support my intention, I don’t want to overstay and become a burden for the party,” he added.

As for his successor, Chin was confident that the voters would be able to accept Ting, who is his political secretary, since he was well known in Miri by all races.

He appealed to everyone, especially the Chinese community, to continue supporting SUPP and to enable the party to regain a strong political footing like before.

On his party position, he said, his term would end in 2014 and subsequently a younger leader was set to take over his position.

With Chin’s announcement last night, the SUPP is expected to field four new faces in the coming election for Bandar Kuching, Stampin, Sibu and Miri parliamentary seats.

- Bernama