KUCHING, Oct 24 — Former deputy president of Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) Datuk Dr Jerip Susil has been accepted as a member of Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB), Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Openg announced today.
He said Dr Jerip, who is also the Mambong state lawmaker and assistant minister of transport, had applied to join PBB after resigning from PSB on July 11 this year.
“[The PBB Supreme Council] has accepted his membership application unanimously,” Abang Johari, who is PBB president, told reporters after chairing the supreme council meeting.
With the acceptance, PBB now has 47 state lawmakers out of 82 in the Sarawak State Assembly.
GPS other component parties, Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) has 11 state lawmakers, Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP, seven, and Progressive Democratic Party (PDP), three.
Asked for his reaction, Dr Jerip thanked the PBB supreme council for unanimously accepting him as a member.
“I would like to thank the chief minister for allowing this to happen and following up to his advice, the decision to join PBB can be said to have been concluded,” he said.
He said he is confident that there will enhancement of unity among the people in Mambong with regards to the component parties within GPS, but also looking into the bigger picture of the Bidayuh community for greater unity and development.
Dr Jerip had applied to join PBB soon after the 2016 state election, along with state assemblyman for Engkilili Johnicol Rayong and Opar representative Datuk Ranum Mina.
However, the late Pehin Sri Adenan Satem, then chief minister and PBB president, advised them to join United People’s Party (UPP), now known as PSB.
The trio had resigned from UPP as a condition to contest as Barisan Nasional’s direct candidates.
After their victories in the state election, they decided to join PBB.
Although UPP was not a component party of the ruling GPS, its president Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh and Dr Jerip were appointed as members of the state administration.
After UPP was rebranded as PSB, they remained in their respective posts.
Wong was appointed as Sarawak’s second minister of finance, which he relinquished a few months ago. Without any post in the state government, PSB is now an opposition party.
Dr Jerip was elected the Bengoh state assemblyman in the 2001 state election under the BN-SUPP ticket but left the party in 2014 to form a breakaway party, UPP.
