KUCHING, June 4 — Sarawak’s stability on its political front can be credited to the trust that has existed between Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) and the Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) since 1970, according to Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian.

The SUPP president said both parties have been each other’s strongest supporter through various crises.

"This explains why we continue to have political stability,” he said at the flag-raising ceremony by the party branches in Kuching Division to mark SUPP’s 65th anniversary at its headquarters here today.

He added that when PBB was facing a political crisis in the 1980s, SUPP gave its solid support to PBB and its leadership. "When we were in trouble in 2014, PBB stood by us,” he said, adding that SUPP was in lowest spirits then due to the internal crisis that led to the formation of a breakaway group.

Dr Sim, who is also deputy premier, said SUPP could have been deregistered had it not been for the late Tan Sri Adenan Satem, who was then Sarawak chief minister, who spoke to then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak about the leadership crisis in the party.

He said SUPP is grateful to PBB and Adenan for saving SUPP from a near deregistration by the Registrar of Societies. He said the political stability in Sarawak is strengthened when the two parties together with Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) formed the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) after the 2018 general election.

Dr Sim said the political stability has enabled Sarawak to move forward, especially in the last 10 years, including handing over RM100 million to Chinese and Mission schools.

"Our party does not talk much, but our actions speak louder than words,” he said.

He said under the GPS government, Sarawak is doing well and this has attracted many peninsula Malaysians to come and stay in the state as permanent residents.

Dr Sim urged party members to continue to support and make GPS to remain strong, saying that a strong government will give confidence to the people and attract investors to come.