Ever since Sarawak United People's Party's (SUPP) central working committee (CWC) had recommended that the four recently-elected Dayak state assemblypersons be appointed to the state cabinet, there has been a clamour among party supporters for their men to be picked.

NONE Among the most vocal are the supporters of Jerip Susil ( left ), the three term-state assemblyperson.

They want Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud to appoint him a full minister since, according to them, a Bidayuh from SUPP had never been appointed to such a position before.

In fact, none of the state assemblypersons from SUPP had even been appointed assistant ministers in the past.

"It is time we have one," said Bidayuh community leader Austin Dimin.

He said the Bidayuh community has always been a great supporter of the BN and Taib, saying that Jerip's appointment as a full minister would be considered a gift to them.

His supporters had also organised a dinner to mark Jerip's victory in the Bengoh state constituency.

‘Bidayuh never failed to deliver'

PBB Bengoh secretary Jeguk Ngamo, for one, noted that although the Bidayuh had never failed to deliver Bengoh and Opar to the BN through SUPP for the past several terms, BN had not reciprocated by recommending them to government posts.

Jerip was not even appointed chairperson of the Padawan Municipal Council even though the community makes up more than 50 percent of the town's population, they decried.

Instead, SUPP had recommended a little known non-Bidayuh engineer to be the council's chair.

NONE Former Bengoh PBB Youth secretary Wejok Tomik (left) , who stood as an independent in Bengoh in the just-concluded state election, also threw his support for the push for Jerip to be made a full minister.

Wejok, a practising lawyer, said SUPP should recommend Jerip to be a full minister and Opar assemblyperson Ranum Mina as an assistant minister.

"With the victory of SUPP in retaining Bengoh and Opar in the recent election, I fully support the call for recognition by recommending Jerip and Ranum to government posts," he said.

"The community still voted for SUPP this time around simply because SUPP is in the BN coalition.

"I believe the victory of SUPP in Bengoh and Opar seats in the recent election is not so much attributed to SUPP's strength or its popularity but due mainly to the community's support, trust and confidence in the BN leadership," he said.

Jerip was the deputy secretary-general of the State Reform Party (Star) before he quit to join the SUPP just before the 2001 state election.

Star is led by former assistant infrastructure development minister and communications Patau Rubis.

While Jerip's supporters have wanted Taib to appoint him a full minister, Ranum maintain that their man should be given a chance.

They reasoned that Ranum, who holds an MBA degree, is more senior in the party than Jerip, a medical doctor by training.

Currently, the Bidayuh community has six state representatives in the BN.

Only Michael Manyin from PBB is a full minister while Peter Nansian Ngusie of the Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) is an assistant minister; while Roland Sabah Wee Inn of PBB chairs the Sarawak Rivers Board.

The exceptions are Jerip, Ranum and PBB's Martin Ben.

Tradition, seniority equals clamour

Meanwhile, Francis Harden's supporters are also clamouring for his elevation to full minister, reasoning that he has been an assemblyperson for Simanggang much longer than Jerip, Ranum and Engkilili state assemblyperson Johnical Rayong.

Political analysts believe that Harden has an edge over the three others for that office since he is now an assistant minister.

While in the party, Harden is the deputy secretary-general, a position which puts him on an even better footing for a full minister's post.

NONE If tradition and considerations of seniority and position are factored in, Harden ( right ) has been seen as the most logical choice.

This will put Rayong, however, out of the running.

His loyalty to the party has yet to be tested, considering he became a SUPP member only a few months ago.

He left Snap immediately after beating Jonathan Krai of SUPP in the 2006 state election. For a while, he was without a party, before hopping to SUPP to contest on a BN ticket.

Although SUPP had recommended that Harden, Jerip, Ranum and Rayong be appointed to government posts, Taib is likely to pick only one of them as a full minister and one as an assistant minister to maintain the status quo of two SUPP ministers.

Presently, SUPP has Wong Soon Koh as the public health and environment minister, a post which he held before the dissolution of the state assembly on March 21.

Before the state polls, George Chan was deputy chief minister, minister of industrial development and minister of modernisation of agriculture.

There were five assistant ministers from SUPP - David Teng, Soon Choon Teck, Lee Kim Shin, Tan Joo Phoi and Harden - before the polls.

Only Harden and Lee remained while Soon did not contest. Teng and Tan fell in the election.

Taib won't take all four

One political analyst expressed doubts that Taib will take all four SUPP assemblypersons into his administration, as this would incur the wrath of Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) which has eight assemblypersons, while SPDP has six.

His party's state assemblypersons will also question him, the analyst speculated.

"The old fox also has to take into account the performance of PRS in the state elections," explained the analyst.

Members of Taib's administration will come mostly from PBB as expected.

He was originally scheduled to swear in the assistant ministers tomorrow, but this ceremony has been postponed to May 3. The turn of full ministers is expected to be in mid-June.