SARATOK – Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) Youth chief David Yeo has insisted that the party will not give way to Bersatu’s Datuk Ali Biju to contest in the Saratok parliamentary seat in the coming general election (GE15).
“Since Saratok is PDP’s traditional parliamentary seat, whether Ali Biju from Bersatu will contest or otherwise, it cannot be denied that the PDP candidate proposed by Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) will contest in this seat,” he said.
He claimed that PDP had previously offered Saratok incumbent MP Datuk Ali Biju to join the party and to defend the seat under GPS, but the offer was rejected.
Yeo was responding to Perikatan Nasional (PN) Sarawak Youth chief Alexander Frusis, who, in a statement on October 15, claimed that PDP dishonoured the 12th Sarawak election agreement, where Ali was asked to hand over the Krian state seat to PDP.
“Actually, there is no such thing as ‘giving up the seat’ or giving way to anyone, because the GPS supreme council originally favoured the PDP campaign in the Krian area, and our party only negotiated with Ali Biju to get support. He was also offered to join PDP so that he could serve the people of Sarawak in the future.
“It’s a pity that Ali Biju has been negotiating with our party for a long time, and his position is getting more and more unstable. Only recently, Ali Biju has ‘repented’ and wants to negotiate with our party on this matter. However, as we all know, a lot of early preparations need to be done before the general election.
“PDP had no choice but to propose to Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Abang Openg, and recommended Giendam Jonathan as the candidate for Saratok,” he said. – Borneo Post Online, October 18, 2022
