The internal squabbles within the leadership ranks of the Chinese-based Sarawak United People's Party (Supp) have surfaced again, barely two months after an agreement was reached to set aside their differences in order to prevent a serious split.

The lid was blown over after what appeared to be a deliberate attempt by the faction opposed to the leadership of party president Dr George Chan to refuse to appoint Sibu branch secretary Dr Soon Choon Teck as pro-tem chairperson of the new Dudong branch.

The faction, led by the party's deputy secretary-general and presidential aspirant Wong Soon Koh, a state minister, deliberately humiliated Dr Soon, accusing him of lacking in solidarity with the Sibu branch during the height of the leadership crisis at the end of last year.

In normal cases, since he is the Dudong state assemblyperson, Dr Soon would assume the post of chairperson of Dudong branch, but instead the Sibu branch leadership decided on Lanang MP Tiong Thai King as its chairperson. Soon is offered the deputy chairperson post.

At a recent Sibu branch meeting chaired by Wong, when a consensus could not be reached to appoint Dr Soon as the Dudong pro-tem chairperson, a vote was taken with the majority favouring Tiong to head the branch.

Dr Soon left the meeting 10 minutes before the meeting ended, but later denied he had staged a walk-out.

Created divisions

Dr Soon became a target of criticism by the Sibu branch colleagues after he went ahead in October last year to set up the Dudong branch, by-passing the Sibu branch, as required.

At a Dudong solidarity night dinner on Wednesday in Sibu, attended by Wong and Tiong, a local Supp branch unit leader Kong Tze Ling said Dr Soon had created divisions after making a decision to set up the pro-tem branch for Dudong without consulting branch leaders.

He also said Dr Soon had not shown good leadership example by going against the wishes of the majority of members of Sibu branch and he had also failed to show his solidarity with the Sibu branch during the leadership crisis last year.

Dr Soon has refused to accept the Sibu branch's decision and said he would refer the matter to the party's central working committee (CWC) which is expected to meet later this month in Kuching.

The party, which presently has 35 branches throughout Sarawak, has decided to set up a branch in each of the 71 state constituencies.

The Sibu branch recently announced it was setting up five branches in the Sibu area, and the Miri branch led by Dr Chan has also announced the formation of five branches in the northern region.

According to observers, the two major factions are already on the ground campaigning to strengthen their respective positions ahead of the party elections scheduled in 2009 which will see a new leader elected to replace Dr Chan who announced in December he will not seek reelection for the party's top post.

While the Sibu group has decided to back Dr Wong as its candidate for the top party post, it is learnt that the Chan-led faction favours the party's organising secretary Peter Chin, a federal minister, as party leader.

Councillors quit

The problem within the party is not confined to Sibu. Problems have also surfaced in public in Sri Aman following the resignation of four Supp councilors - all Chinese - from their posts at the end of last year because of their displeasure with the Simanggang branch leader Francis Harden, a state assistant minister and the state assemblyperson for Simanggang.

According to a political analyst, Francis enjoys strong popular support, and the resignation of the four councilors is no big loss to him and the party.

Francis, son of a late Supp veteran Hollis Tini, is said to be strengthening his position by putting his own men in the branch committee to reflect the predominantly-Dayak state constituency.

On the other hand, the analyst commented, it might not be good for Francis to alienate the minority Chinese interests in the long run as it could force them to move away from the party to the benefit of the opposition.

A Supp headquarters source told malaysiakini today no date had been fixed for the CWC meeting but he expected this would take place later this month. A three-day notice is required in calling for such a meeting.

The forthcoming 25-member CWC meeting is likely to turn into a heated affair again, with the Sibu group likely to defend their decision to leave Dr Soon out as the new Dudong branch chairperson.

If the Chan-led faction favours Dr Soon, the issue might be put to a vote, and this will open up another tussle within the leadership ranks of the party again.