KUCHING, July 12 ― Datuk Willie Mongin has declared that he will not attempt to rejoin Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), the party he represented when he won his parliamentary seat of Puncak Borneo in 2018.

When approached by reporters today, the Plantation Industries and Commodities Deputy Minister said while he preferred not to take any political questions for now, he had to respond to a question concerning him and PKR.

"I don’t want to talk about politics for the time being. I want to focus on my job, to serve my constituency and the people of Malaysia, in my capacity as the MP and deputy minister.

"But to your question, my answer is, no, I am not interested to rejoin PKR,” he said after a press conference on the inaugural Bidayuh Mystique Festival 2022 (BFM 2022) at his Sinaruh Hill service centre, Jalan Puncak Borneo near here.

In 2018, Willie won 18,885 votes for a 4,005-vote majority to defeat Barisan Nasional candidate Genot Sinel, who garnered 14,860 votes, and Sarawak People’s Aspiration Party (Aspirasi) candidate Buln Ribos, who got 795 votes.

However, Willie left PKR following the infamous Sheraton Move in 2020, which led to the fall of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government.

He then came under Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), which together with Barisan Nasional, Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS), and Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), went on to form the current federal government.

Willie has since claimed he did not join any political party but was "parked” under Bersatu to support the ruling government.

Recently, he revealed he had applied to join Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) a couple of months ago.

Yesterday, The Borneo Post reported PKR has not considered accepting Willie back into its fold as he never applied to rejoin the party.

PKR Sarawak information and communication chief Abun Sui Anyit said PKR would respond accordingly should Willie apply to rejoin the party but nevertheless pointed out that the feelings of the Puncak Borneo grassroots may not be in the incumbent MP’s favour. ― Borneo Post