GABUNGAN Parti Sarawak (GPS) has won the closely watched contest in Krian, wresting back the seat it last won on a Barisan Nasional ticket in 2011.

Friday Belik won the seat with a 932-vote majority in the four-horse race that had originally been contested by Ali Biju, the Sarawak Bersatu vice-chairman, who withdrew three days after filing his candidacy.

Friday garnered 3,885 votes to secure victory over Musa Dinggat of Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB), who obtained 2,953 votes, Ali (1,777 votes) and Danny Kuan from Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) who only managed 282 votes.

Ali, who is Saratok MP and deputy energy and natural resources minister, had initially filed to contest Krian as an independent, which angered GPS and prompted Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin to ask him to withdraw.

Despite GPS’s close ties with Barisan Nasional, Muhyiddin has also been courting the favour of the Sarawak-based coalition. – Bernama, December 18, 2021.