He said the final decision would be left to the discretion of the chief minister Abang Johari Openg and the other Sarawak leaders.
“We will further discuss it with Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), our partners in Perikatan Nasional (PN) and decide later if PPBM will contest in the state polls,” he told reporters after visiting the Sarawak General Hospital upgrading project here today.
“The most important thing is that we must be able to get the support of the voters. The seat allocation comes second.
“We want GPS to achieve a landslide victory, winning more seats and forming the Sarawak government again,” he said.
Muhyiddin, who is also the PPBM president, gave an assurance that his party and PAS in Sarawak would give their full support to GPS as long as it doesn’t cause a split among the PN parties.
GPS is a coalition involving Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP), Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and Progressive Democratic Party (PDP). All are Sarawak-based parties and do not want peninsula-based parties to contest in the state.
Currently, PPBM has one state seat in Sarawak, which is Krian. Its assemblyman Ali Biju won the seat on a PKR ticket but quit the party to join PPBM last year.
On the federal government’s decision to file its appeal against the High Court’s recent ruling that Christians can use the word “Allah” to refer to God, Muhyiddin said he would leave the matter to the court.
“I don’t wish to comment more about it as I don’t think it is appropriate for me to express my personal feelings now. Let’s wait for the court to make its ruling.”
Meanwhile, he also agreed with PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang who had called on Islamic groups to cooperate and unite under PN, whose leadership is based on Islamic values and the principle of integrity.
“Yes, he is right as he is speaking for the Muslim and Malay groups. But, as a government formed by parties of various races and religions, we need the support from everyone,” he said.
He also said the National Security Council had agreed in principle to Sarawak’s proposal to provide Covid-19 vaccines to those in the red zones first.
However, the council needs to evaluate the proposal in detail as there are many red zones in other states as well.
“It is not that we don’t want to provide the vaccines but there is a limited supply as the vaccines arrive in batches,” he said.
He said that although the Sarawak government was allowed to buy its own vaccines, it was not easy to procure them.
“Even some countries can’t get the vaccine yet,” he said.