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| Jabu gives the thumbs-up while posing for a group photo with his wife Dato Sri Empiang Jabu (fourth right), Dr Rundi (fifth right) and others. — Photos by Muhammad Rais Sanusi |
KUCHING: Election fever in the state is beginning to heat up as rumours are swelling that there is a possibility Betong MP Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas might swap seat with Bukit Saban assemblyman Robert Lawson Chuat in the coming state election.
However, PBB president Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem was decidedly coy on the matter and merely hinted that there was a possibility that this might happen.
“There is always the possibility but it does not only apply to the state elected representative for Bukit Saban,” he told a press conference after chairing the PBB Supreme Council meeting at the party’s headquarters yesterday.
This led reporters to ask if other MPs from Sarawak including Petra Jaya MP Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof might contest during the state election.
Not one to be persuaded so easily, Adenan, who is also Chief Minister, quipped: “Your guess is as good as mine.”
The rumour mill has been on overdrive for the past two weeks as there are whispers from the grassroots that Uggah’s move to contest the state seat is to pave the way for him to become the next deputy chief minister.
Another rumour heard from the grapevine was that Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu Numpang might vacate his Layar seat to make way for his son Gerald Rentap.
The longest serving assemblyman and Deputy Chief Minister, who was immediately approached by reporters after the meeting, was quick to shoot down the rumour when asked to confirm if it was indeed true he was stepping down.
“I’m going back to Betong to celebrate Chinese New Year. Don’t believe in rumours,” stressed Jabu who is also PBB deputy president.
But when pointed out that he hugged PBB deputy president Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg and senior vice president Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan after the meeting, Jabu responded by saying: “It’s the success of Barisan Nasional (BN). We are all committed to BN.”
When pressed further why some senior PBB leaders took photographs with him after the meeting, he said in jest: “I don’t know…my birthday.”
Meanwhile, PBB Supreme Council member Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah gave a vague reply when asked to confirm speculations that some leaders would be stepping down to pave way for new faces.
“Definitely there will be some leaders that will step down and these leaders are mostly senior leaders and new ones will have to come in. This is how the party develops.
“And we are very happy to see that PBB has got a culture of its own and we can see there are some leaders who are willing to look at the state’s and party’s perspective instead of personal,” he said.
The Asajaya assemblyman also disclosed that although he knew “who is coming in and going out”, he won’t reveal the names, saying it was best to leave it to the Chief Minister to make the necessary announcement.
“As what the Chief Minister (Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem) said during his press conference just now (yesterday), your guess is as good as mine but then the announcement will be made by him. We will leave it to the Chief Minister to make necessary announcement.
“But there will definitely be some good changes for the state.”
Abdul Karim also gave subtle hints to reporters that if they were observant of their surroundings after the PBB Supreme Council Meeting, they should be able to get a clue on who would be vacating their seats in the coming state election.
“Just now, after the Supreme Council meeting, you all had to wait for quite a while. There were a lot of hugging and things like that. Well, who is being hugged and all that, you can probably see from that indication.
“But then, this is something good for the party. It is quite a touching scenario. One day, it will come to our turn also. We’ll be facing this kind of scenario,” he said.
On another matter, Abdul Karim said PBB secretary general Datuk Dr Stephen Rundi Utom, PBB Supreme Council member Abdullah Saidol and himself had been tasked to handle comments from the opposition, especially from state DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen.
“Let it be our ranks to address him (Chong). Our Chief Minister is too high (ranking) for him.”
This was echoed by Abdullah who pointed out that they would handle anything that came from the opposition party and not on Chong alone.
“We have been assigned to look into it. When deemed appropriate, we’ll do our own comments. But at the same time, not withstanding what the Chief Minister had announced just now (yesterday), the spirit is that he wants us not to take things for granted.
“Yes, he (Adenan) did admit that he’s popular but then again, he’s not contesting in all the seats. There was one thing that he said loud and clear and that is ‘Nobody should take the popularity for granted. You have to go to the ground and strengthen the base.’”
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