Abang Johari non-committal on accepting partyless Dr Jerip

KUCHING: Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg (pic) has remained non-committal if Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), the backbone of Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), will accept partyless Datuk Dr Jerip Susil.

Dr Jerip announced his abrupt resignation as deputy president of Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) on Thursday, saying that he had come to the decision after consulting the people and supporters in his Mambong state constituency.

“One at a time...only yesterday afternoon I got the statement (on Dr Jerip quitting PSB) in our WhatsApp group on social media,” Abang Johari, who is also GPS Chairman and PBB President, told reporters after officiating the Mind & STEM 2019 Festival here Friday.

Further queried by the media that Dr Jerip’s supporters wanted him to join PBB, especially to enable the people to benefit from the GPS government’s Rural Transformation Programme (RTP), he said: “We see how it goes.”

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Despite PSB not being a component party of GPS, Dr Jerip is a member of the state administration as Assistant Minister of Transportation.

Under the GPS banner are four Sarawak-based parties, namely PBB, Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) and Progressive Democratic Party (PDP).

Meanwhile, SUPP president Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian said the door was always open for Dr Jerip and other elected members of PSB, a breakaway party of SUPP, to rejoin the party.

“We always welcome them back and for the sake of unity for Sarawak, we need everybody to stay together,” he told reporters after the event.

Dr Sim, who is also State Local Government and Housing Minister, said no conditions were set for accepting Dr Jerip should he decide to rejoin SUPP.

In 2001, Dr Jerip joined SUPP and won the Bengoh state seat (now known as Mambong), which he successfully defended in 2006 and again in 2011.

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In the 2016 state election, he retained the seat under the United People’s Party (UPP) ticket before it was rebranded as PSB early this year. – Bernama.

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