By Nur Ashikin Louis & Karen Bong
KUCHING, Nov 1: Saratok incumbent Datuk Ali Biju and Lubok Antu incumbent Jugah Muyang will defend their respective seats under Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) tickets in the upcoming 15th General Election (GE15).
While this may have been expected by many, it came as a surprise that Perikatan Nasional (PN), a so-called ally of Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) will also field two more candidates in Sarawak.
Bersatu will field newcomer Duke Jateng in P217 Bintulu while component party Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) will field a candidate, to be announced later, in P201 Batang Lupar.
These seats were won by Dato Seri Tiong King Sing and Dato Sri Rohani Abdul Karim of GPS, respectively.
All three Bersatu candidates and one PAS candidate will contest using the PN logo.
This was revealed by Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin when announcing the Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidates for GE15 via a live broadcast on his Facebook page earlier tonight.
Responding to this, Ali in a statement said he is honoured to carry the PN banner in defending his seat in GE15.
“PN is part of the federal government with our friend and partner GPS.
“As a Federal Deputy Minister (of Energy and Natural Resources), I enjoy serving the country alongside my friends and colleagues from GPS.
“When I withdrew from contesting for the Krian state seat (in the 12th Sarawak Election), I had sincerely campaigned for the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) candidate and kept my end of the agreement that was made between both parties.
“Due to circumstances overtaken by events, my president’s (Muhyiddin) decision that I carry the PN symbol in GE15 does not arise,” he said.
PDP is one of four GPS component parties, alongside Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) and Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS).
In the 12th Sarawak Election last year, Ali gave up his Krian seat at the last minute to give way for then GPS candidate Friday Belik, which saw the latter winning the seat with a 932-vote majority. — DayakDaily
