By Adrian Lim
KUCHING, March 1: Serian MP Datuk Seri Richard Riot Jaem denies that he has left Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) which is a component party of Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) to join Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).
Contrary to the message posted by PKR’s communication director Fahmi Fadzil yesterday, Riot insisted that he remains with SUPP and will not switch camps to support Pakatan Harapan.
“I never left SUPP or GPS. I never joined PKR and will not join it.
“But, yes I supported Tun Dr Mahathir (Mohamad) to be the eighth prime minister (PM8).
“I did not support Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin because PAS (Parti Islam Se-Malaysia) is in his camp.
“Two names were put to be PM8 (Dr Mahathir and Muhyiddin). We were to choose and I chose Tun Dr M because PAS is with Muhyiddin.
“To say that I have joined PKR is not true. I never joined and will not join PKR,” he told DayakDaily in a WhatsApp message.
Yesterday, Fahmi tweeted a message welcoming Riot.
“Keadilan mengalu-alukan kemasukan YB Dato’ Sri Richard Riot anak Jaem, Ahli Parliament Serian (P.199) ke dalam parti hari ini” (Keadilan welcomes the entry of YB Dato’ Sri Richard Riot anak Jaem, Serian (P.199) Member of Parliament into the party today).
At the same time, PKR central committee member and Julau MP Larry Sng also posted a welcome message for Riot on his Facebook page.
In the meantime, Riot is the deputy president of SUPP.
He is a seven-term MP for Serian and was formerly the Human Resources Minister in the cabinet of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. — DayakDaily
