Henry speaking to reporters. — Picture by Roystein Emmor via Borneo Post
KUCHING, Nov 14 — Tasik Biru incumbent Datuk Henry Harry Jinep predicts that there would be a four-cornered fight for the constituency in the upcoming state election.
In this regard, he said he was prepared to defend the seat and win it for Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), despite the challenge of a multi-cornered fight that might include former federal deputy minister Datuk Tiki Lafe, who is expected to be fielded by Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB).
“I am ready to defend my seat. With Datuk Tiki expected of joining the contest, I am prepared for the challenge of facing a former deputy minister and a former member of Parliament who had served several terms.
“The same goes with the expected candidacies from DAP (Democratic Action Party) and PBK (Parti Bumi Kenyalang). We in GPS are ready for this challenge,” he said in a statement.
Henry pointed out that should GPS win Tasik Biru, the real victors would be the constituents ‘who want continuity of development in the constituency’.
Henry, a corporate figure, won Tasik Biru on Barisan Nasional (BN) ticket in the 2016 state election by defeating Mordi Bimol from DAP in a straight fight, with the former garnering a 1,288-vote majority.
On a related matter, Henry, who is also Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) vice-president, said he was confident GPS would win all the eight Bidayuh-majority seats, which are Tasik Biru, Opar, Serembu, Mambong, Tarat, Tebedu, Bukit Semuja and Kedup.
All seats, except Opar, were held by the GPS prior to the dissolution of the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly (DUN) — Opar was represented by PSB.
“We are confident of winning all the Bidayuh seats. All the incumbents from GPS have been working hard servicing their respective areas.
“Opar was not under GPS, and in the last two to three years, the constituents there had suffered because the area was under opposition. In fact, Opar was not initially under opposition, but its elected representative chose to be in opposition.
“The constituents there became the victims because they had previously voted to be in the government,” he said.
Henry believed that the majority of the voters in Opar would want to make their voices heard and choose to be in the government again.
He was also optimistic that voters in the eight Bidayuh seats would want their areas to be under GPS.
He said this was because the voters in these areas knew that there would not be much infrastructure development should their areas is under the opposition.
“We in the rural areas must continue to be under the government. No matter what, we must be under the government,” he stressed. — Borneo Post