Member of Parliament (MP) for Lubok Antu, Tambat @ Jugah Muyang today announced his decision to leave Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and become an independent supporting the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government and Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS).

In a statement tonight, he also pledged his support for Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Sarawak Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg.

"I have discussed with my supporters and they have agreed that I fully support the PN government for the good and development of the Lubok Antu area," he said.

Jugah explained that in the 14th General Election (GE-14), he stood as an independent and won on the people's mandate before joining his supporters to join PKR, which was part of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government.

Meanwhile, when contacted by Astro AWANI through WhatsApp, Jugah confirmed the media statement.

"Yes," replied Jugah briefly.

In addition, according to Jugah’s statement, the rural area that he represents require the Federal Government’s attention to undertake development.

However, the internal turmoil in Pakatan Harapan (PH) that led to the resignation of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as prime minister caused the government to collapse after 22 months of ruling the country.

"I regret that there were internal issues among the PH component parties, and my decision to leave the party was made after taking into account the support and approval of supporters in my area," he said.

In the last general election, Jugah won the Lubok Antu seat with 5,834 votes, ahead of Barisan Nasional candidate Robert Pasang Alam who polled 4,775 votes and PKR candidate Nicholas Bawin Anggat (3,942 votes).

Following his decision to leave PKR, PH Sarawak currently holds only eight out of the 31 parliamentary seats in the state while 21 MPs support PN and two MPs were neutrals.