KUCHING: Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) remains steadfast in its stand to contest in all 31 Sarawak parliamentary seats in the coming 15th General Election (GE15).
According to its chairman, who is also the Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg, all seats would be contested by GPS candidates.
“We will cross the bridge (when we come to it)… But GPS will field all their candidates in the 31 seats,” he said.
He was responding to a reporter’s question about whether GPS would grant seats to the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (BERSATU) for the upcoming general election.
Abang Johari presided over the GPS pre-council meeting earlier today at the Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) headquarters in Jalan Bako.
PBB, Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP), Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), and Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) are the four local parties that make up GPS.
PBB won 13 seats in the last general election, SUPP (one), PRS (three) and PDP (two).
BERSATU Sarawak now holds the parliamentary seats in Saratok and Puncak Borneo.
In response to a news report quoting BERSATU president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin urging Abang Johari to consider allowing state BERSATU candidates to run in Sarawak’s parliamentary seats in the GE15, chief political secretary to the Premier Fazzrudin Abdul Rahman, in a statement, said that GPS would not compromise on its stand to contest all parliamentary seats in the coming general election.
“With GPS contesting and winning the parliamentary seats, it would ensure that efforts to reclaim and safeguard Sarawak rights will continue for the foreseeable future.
“Putting GPS at the helm would contribute to ensuring political stability to the nation similar to what we helped to achieve in the recent political crisis in 2020 and ensure prosperity to the people,” he said.
Fazzrudin added the country has been in this current political quagmire for far too long, and this period of instability has, to a certain extent, dampened both the economic development and the governance of the nation.
“If Sarawak prospers, I believe that the nation will too. What is important now is that Sarawak’s interest and the nation’s interest will remain the utmost priority,” he pointed out.
