File photo showing Henry Jinep talking to reporters.
KUCHING (June 6): Datuk Henry Harry Jinep of Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) says he is all set to defend Tasik Biru for Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) in the coming state election.
He said several meetings had been held among the Bidayuh assemblymen in GPS to discuss plans and strategies for the election.
“We the Bidayuh incumbents in GPS are all ready to defend our seats.
“We have met several times to discuss our strategies and plans, and how we can get the support from the people to continually support GPS.
“We are all ready for election any time,” he said.
Tasik Biru is almost certain to see a multi-cornered fight in the coming state election.
Potential contenders are expected to come from Democratic Action Party (DAP), Party Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) and Parti Bumi Keyalang. All have publicly expressed their interest to field their candidates in Tasik Biru.
PSB is widely speculated to field former Mas Gading MP and former rural and regional development deputy minister Datuk Dr Tiki Lafe.
Dr Tiki was MP for Mas Gading from 1999-2013. Then, he was vice president of Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (now renamed PDP). He was, however, not fielded to defend the seat in the 2013 parliamentary election after he was expelled from the party.
DAP and PBK have yet to reveal their potential candidate though.
When asked how he sees the likely multi-cornered fight in the coming election, he said, “It’s too premature to make comment; we wait for the nomination day.”
In the last state election, Henry won the seat with a 1,288 votes majority, defeating DAP candidate Mordi Bimol in a straight fight.
There are seven Bidayuh incumbents in GPS, including Henry. Others are Martin Ben (Kedup), Datuk Amar Michael Manyin (Tebedu), John Ilus (Bukit Semuja), Datuk Roland Sagah (Tarat), Datuk Dr Jerip Susil (Mambong) and Miro Simuh (Serembu).
There are eight Bidayuh-majority state seats in Sarawak.The other one is Opar, which is held by Datuk Ranum Mina of PSB.