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MIRI – Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) will field a candidate from Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB) to contest the upcoming Jepak state by-election.
State premier and GPS chairman Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg said it is confirmed that PBB will contest the seat.
“PBB will be the one to contest Jepak under the GPS banner and the candidate will be announced in due time,” he told reporters last night in Kuching.
The GPS coalition is made up of PBB, Sarawak United Peoples Party (SUPP), Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP).
Yesterday, The Vibes reported that an interesting dilemma is brewing ahead of the impending Jepak state constituency by-election in northern Sarawak.
There is still a question mark on whether any Sarawak Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition parties will contest in Jepak against GPS, the incumbent in Jepak, as PH and GPS are partners of the unity government at the national level.
Even Sarawak PKR chairman Roland Engan is at a crossroads on how to sort out this dilemma.
“We in Sarawak PKR are unsure whether we will contest in Jepak or not.
“As it is now, PKR and the other PH coalition parties (DAP and Amanah) are partners in the unity government in Putrajaya along with GPS.
“Since PKR is part of the unity government along with GPS at the national level, we could end up cooperating with GPS, but we in Sarawak PKR are still in the opposition as far as state level is concerned.
"We Sarawak PKR will hold a central leadership council meeting on Monday to make a decision on how to proceed as far as this by-election in Jepak is concerned," he told reporters here in Miri yesterday.
Engan, who is a lawyer based in Miri, said he is not sure how the other PH partners will decide with regards to the Jepak by-election.
“Sarawak DAP has all along stressed that it is still the opposition party in Sarawak.
“Sarawak DAP will continue to function as an opposition in this state even against GPS, which is a partner of the unity government at national level.
“Sarawak PH also has not convened any meeting to decide on whether to contest in Jepak or not,” Engan said.
On Sept 19, Sarawak state assembly speaker Tan Sri Mohamed Asfia Awang Nassar had announced that a by-election for Jepak will be held as it is now vacant following the September 15 demise of incumbent Datuk Talib Zulpilip.
Asfia said he had submitted an official letter to Election Commission chairman Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Salleh informing him of the vacancy in the Jepak seat.
Talib, 72, passed away at Normah Specialist Hospital in state capital Kuching due to an illness.
Asfia had said that since there are still more than three years to go before the next state elections. A by-election must be held by February 14, 2027. – The Vibes, September 22, 2023