Dr Jerip Susil
KUCHING (Jan 19): The incumbent for Mambong state constituency, Datuk Dr Jerip Susil said he had long prepared for the next state election.
He said Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) have in fact gone full swing in their preparations ever since they were directed to do so by the party’s chairman Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg.
“The chief minister had directed every GPS assemblyman a long time ago to start going to the ground, meeting with all GPS grassroot members, community leaders.
“We have begun preparations early for the election,” he said after witnessing the clearing of a landslide that hit Kampung, Jalam Puncak Borneo, Garung today.
The Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) Mambong chairman however said because of the pandemic, they have also changed their approach when meeting with the voters.
“We are all prepared. Now, we only change our approach to prepare for the election in compliance with the standard operation procedures (SOP) of the current Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO),” he said.
During an interview in September, Dr Jerip said he was leaving it to Abang Johari to decide whether he would defend his seat in the next state election.
His candidacy is a contentious issue after he left Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP), under which he won the Mambong seat to defend the seat as a Barisan Nasional (BN) direct candidate in the last election.
After winning he joined United People’s Party (UPP), which later changed its name to Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB).
However, he left PSB to join PBB in 2019. This resulted in Mambong, which is traditionally a SUPP seat, being held by PBB under the seats allocation of Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), the state’s ruling coalition.
As SUPP has already declared it would not give up Mambong, GPS is now faced with the conundrum of who to field in Mambong in the next state election.