KUCHING: Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) should stay as an independent coalition and only decide who to work with after the 15th general election (GE15) is concluded, said political observer Dr Lee Kuok Tiung.
In response to Warisan vice-president Junz Wong stating that Warisan can work with GPS to fight for the rights of the two East Malaysian states under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), he said that it could be the party’s trick to sell GPS’ name to gain support from Sabahan in the upcoming GE.
“For him stating this is due to Sabahan inclination towards local based parties… merely for political purposes.
“If he is sincere (in cooperating), he should have approached GPS first and not self-proclaimed by going to the media,” he said when contacted by the New Sarawak Tribune today.
He expressed his doubt that Warisan is inline with GPS to fight for the rights under Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
“When GPS approached Warisan’s state government (back then) to sue Petronas to get the five percent SST, the party had rejected the invitation.
“Only after the Sheraton Move, when Pakatan Harapan (PH) is no longer the federal government and Sarawak got their five percent SST, only then they try to fight for it also,” he said.
For that, he reiterated that GPS should stay an independent party and that Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) is a better option than Warisan.
“After the Sabah state election in 2020, Sabah chief minister Hajiji Noor managed to get the five percent SST from then Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
“When you look at it, the current GRS government looks can fit in better with GPS with all the Sabah First, Sabah Forward, Sabah Prosper, etc which some see as duplicates from Sarawak’s model,” he said.
For the record, Wong had urged Sabahans to vote for Warisan, saying the party would be the only Sabah-based national party contesting in the coming general election (GE15).
“Sabah cannot afford to be left behind by underdevelopment and unfair treatment from the peninsula any more.
“Together with the strong Sarawak bloc, GPS, Warisan can voice out and regain the rights of Sabahans and Sarawakians,” he said in a statement.
