 Jelaing was elected to Parliament in the 2004 election, replacing Peter Tinggom as the SPDP's Barisan Nasional candidate for the Saratok seat.He had been a staffer to Tinggom while the latter was a Deputy Minister.Jelaing was dropped as the Barisan Nasional's candidate for the 2013 election, in favour of SPDP president William Mawan Ikom.