PDP’s absorption of ex-PSB members may see it become third largest GPS party

THE move by the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) to “absorb” ex-opposition outfit Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) members may see PDP becoming the third largest party in the state ruling coalition of Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS).

PDP, led by its president Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing, has seemingly overtaken the Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) in terms of membership.

PDP has some 100,000 members, ex-PSB about 80,000 members and SUPP some 126,000 members.

The move by Tiong, who is federal tourism minister, Bintulu MP and assemblyman for Dudong, to accept former PSB members into the party’s fold last Saturday may see PDP reaching the 180,000 membership mark.

The GPS ruling coalition is made up of Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB), SUPP, PDP and Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS).

PBB has about 453,000 members, and PRS some 349,000 members.

SUPP secretary-general Datuk Sebastian Ting, when contacted by The Vibes today, confirmed that the latest party data shows that SUPP has around 126,000 registered members.

Asked if the latest move by PDP to “absorb” former PSB people into PDP now means that PDP has become bigger than SUPP, Ting said it is not necessarily so.

“Unless all the 80,000 former PSB members have already joined PDP, these former PSB members are still free to join any other party.

“The question of interest now is whether all of the former PSB members are joining PDP and if they had not applied to join PDP, they are free to join us in SUPP,” he said. – The Vibes, April 8, 2024