PRS deputy president says won’t run in Sarawak election unless given spot

KUCHING, Nov 11 — Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) deputy president Datuk Joseph Salang today said he will not contest in the upcoming state election.

“No, there is no seat for me,” he said when asked if he would contest in the state election, which has yet to be set since the dissolution of the Sarawak State Assembly on November 3, 2021.

“However, if they (Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) give me a seat, only then I can contest. Otherwise, I will not contest,” he said.

In the 2018 general election, Salang, then the deputy foreign minister, lost to independent candidate Larry Sng Wei Shien in Julau parliamentary seat in a straight fight.

Sng, formerly a Sarawak Worker’s Party lawmaker who held the seat as a Barisan Nasional representative between 1995 and 1999, defeated the four-term Salang by a 1,941-vote majority.

Since the defeat in Julau, Salang has not been elected either as a state assemblyman or member of parliament.

After the death of PRS president Tan Sri Dr James Masing on October 31 due to heart complications, Salang has assumed the leadership of the party.

Last month, PRS Youth chief Datuk Snowdan Lawan had said the party has submitted its list of all incumbent state assemblymen, including Masing, for the 12th state election to Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Openg, who is also GPS chairman, for approval.

He said the party would not field new faces in the election.

Snowdan, who is the incumbent Balai Ringin assemblyman, had said the candidates were chosen by the selection committee headed by Masing.

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