KUCHING: Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) will not budge from contesting in Mambong come the next state election, despite the incumbent representative is now a member of fellow Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) component, Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB).
In a statement released yesterday, SUPP said Mambong remained one of the party’s
20 traditional state seats, and its candidate would contest there in the 12th state election.
SUPP also said it would hold strongly to ‘its position and principle that while an assemblyman could hop to other party, he or she could not not bring along the seat to that party.
“Hence, although the present Mambong assemblyman Datuk Dr Jerip Susil has left SUPP, the constituency still belongs to SUPP. The same case applies to Opar and Engkilili constituencies – SUPP already has potential candidates for all these seats,” it said.
SUPP also expressed regret that fellow component parties in GPS were making overlapping claims on seats as the state election approached.
“This shouldn’t happen because GPS would not get any benefit from it. All GPS members should work together with sincerity; to support each other with no hidden agenda”.
It also said all GPS components have their own traditional seats where they should be allowed to decide themselves on their own candidates.
As such, SUPP welcomed a recent statement by Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Masing, who is also Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president, who said his party would honour its word in supporting SUPP in Engkilili.
“In return, SUPP will support PRS candidate for Lubok Antu (parliamentary constituency). This is the spirit that we want in GPS. The GPS leaders should know who are our enemies, and work together to fight them.
“There should not have any differences or ‘termites’ in GPS,” said SUPP.
Talks are rife about Dr Jerip eyeing to defend Mambong – but as a candidate from PBB; he has been seen actively going around the constituency to meet the people there.
Dr Jerip first won Mambong (then known as Bengoh) in 2001 when he was in SUPP, and defended it in 2016 as a Barisan Nasional (BN) direct candidate.
He was accepted as PBB member on Oct 24 last year not long after quitting Parti Sarawak Bersaru (PSB).
SUPP recently named three potential candidates for Mambong – Jimson Jium, Ahkim Sarok and Andrew Victor Nub.