KUCHING, Oct 30 — Incumbent Santubong MP Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar has decided against seeking re-election in the November 19 national polls, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) chairman Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg said today.
He said Wan Junaidi opted to sit out the general election on account of his age.
“He told me he is already 77 years old... he wants to do other things. But he will be giving us advice,” he told reporters after launching the GPS women election machinery at the Penview Convention Centre in Bako.
“He came to see me expressing his wish to sit out in the general election. At that time I had not made a decision.
“But since he wanted to step aside, there is nothing we can do,” Abang Johari, who is also Sarawak premier.
Abang Johari declined to reveal the identity of Wan Junaidi’s replacement, saying that he will announce the 31 names of GPS candidates on November 3. He acknowledged that Wan Junaidi has done a lot of things for the country as the Deputy Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat, federal entrepreneur, development and cooperatives minister, and in his last post as de facto law minister.
Wan Junaidi entered politics after leaving the police force. In the 1990 general election, he first contested in the Batang Lupar parliamentary seat and won as well as in the seat in 1995 and 1999 general elections. In the 2004 general election, he switched seats with Datuk Rohani Abdul Karim, contesting the Santubong parliamentary seat and won.
He retained the seat in 2008, 2013 and 2018 general elections. Among the posts he had held as Deputy Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Natural Resources and Environment.
