KUCHING: If the United Malay National Organisation (Umno) and Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) agree to a ‘political understanding charter’ as proposed, it would mean that the distribution of seats may be discussed too.
This is a view of Universiti Malaya (UM) political analyst Associate Professor Dr Awang Azman Awang Pawi, who said Umno may not be able to contest in their traditional seats, thus giving an opportunity to Bersatu and PAS that have fewer seats to contest in more seats, thus making Umno no longer a dominant Malay party.
“There is also a possibility that Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) and Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) would contest in Sarawak,” he said.
He was asked to comment on a statement by Perikatan Nasional (PN) secretary-general Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin on Dec 11, who had proposed a formal charter involving PN, Barisan Nasional and GPS to ensure that they jointly contest in the next 15th general election.
If such understanding is being agreed upon, then GPS may also be required to give up several seats to PAS and Bersatu, said the analyst.
“This will cause dissatisfaction among the grassroots of GPS,” he pointed out.
He said Bersatu and PAS would also difficult to be accepted by Sarawkian voters as it would be considered to interfere with Sarawak-based parties such as GPS, Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB).
