The Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) is considering admitting See Chee How as a member under its Pending branch, amid speculation that he could contest the Batu Lintang seat he has held since 2011.
SUPP president Sim Kui Hian said See did not need to join the party’s Batu Lintang branch to contest the constituency, Borneo Post reported.
Sim pointed out that although he chairs the Pending SUPP branch, he has represented Batu Kawah since 2016.
He said See’s application to join SUPP, a component party of Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), would be discussed by the party’s central working committee, which meets only four times a year.
See’s membership bid awaits party decision
See submitted his application to join SUPP on Tuesday, a day after the Sarawak state assembly was dissolved, paving the way for the next state election to be held by December at the latest.
However, there has been speculation that the Batu Lintang SUPP branch may not accept him, given his previous electoral contests against its chairman, Sih Hua Tong.
The two faced off in the 2011, 2016 and 2021 state elections.
See’s three election victories in Batu Lintang
See, a three-term Batu Lintang assemblyman, was first elected in 2011 on a PKR ticket, defeating Sih by a majority of 8,381 votes.
He retained the seat in 2016 with a reduced majority of 4,385 votes, again defeating Sih, but was sacked by PKR in 2020.
He subsequently joined the now-defunct Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) and secured a third term in Batu Lintang, defeating Sih by a narrow majority of just 93 votes.
See left PSB in 2022 to become an independent assemblyman and later declared his support for the GPS state government.
