SIBU: Democratic Action Party (DAP) had sought Gabungan Parti Sarawak’s (GPS) support after former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad stepped down in early 2020, revealed Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.
The Premier, who disclosed this during a meet-the-people session at Ulu Sg Merah here on Monday night, also pointed out that nobody asked Dr Mahathir to resign but he relinquished the post himself.
“Malaysia had no prime minister. Then, the three candidates were Anwar Ibrahim, Muhyiddin Yassin and Dr Mahathir himself who wanted the post again despite resigning.
“Dr Mahathir did not have enough MPs and neither did Anwar or Muhyiddin. So, they sought GPS’ support. DAP is in PH (Pakatan Harapan). DAP tried to ask GPS to support them and forget about the past.
“How can I forget when you said Sarawak would be bankrupt in three years? In the end, we supported Muhyiddin.
“After that, there was another fight and we had to change prime minister again. They appointed Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri and GPS backed the decision,” he said.
The GPS president also pointed out that even in this election they were pushed to make decisions to name its allies.
“But for us in Sarawak, we (GPS) withdrew from Barisan Nasional (BN). BN consisted of 12 parties during that time and out of these, only four were from Sarawak while the concept for the party is consensus.
“Hence, it is difficult for us to bring Sarawak issues as we know we will lose out. That is why we withdrew from BN and established GPS to fight for Sarawak rights,” he said.
Abang Johari also noted that even the Pan Borneo Highway would have been completed earlier if the change of federal government did not happen.
“The late Pehin Sri Adenan Satem was the one who made the (Pan Borneo) highway project happen. Adenan was behind it and with the support of the federal government, we started building it.
“Now, it is 90 per cent done and will be completed by mid-2023. The one who caused the project to be delayed was PH when it helmed the federal government,” he said.
Also present were Deputy Premier Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian, Palawan assemblyman Michael Tiang Ming Tee, Nangka assemblyman Datuk Dr Annuar Rapaee, Bukit Assek assemblyman Joseph Chieng Jin Ek, Piasau assemblyman Datuk Sebastian Ting.
