Abang Johari, who is Gabungan Parti Sarawak chairman, said supporting Anwar is important to ensure stability in the country while enabling the federal government to focus on governing the nation.

“If the prime minister is already there, let him stay on till the end. If (we change prime ministers) halfway, there will be uncertainty and the people will end up becoming the victims,” Abang Johari was quoted as saying by Bernama.

He urged all politicians to put aside their personal interests for the sake of the people.

“We in Sarawak want Malaysia to be strong. Look at our neighbours, they’ve already progressed. Indonesia has developed so much, but our politicians are still playing politics.

“For Sarawak, we support political stability,” he said.

His comments reflected speculation on the “Dubai Move” last month, about alleged discussions between opposition leaders and certain government representatives for a change of government.

Anwar and other government leaders have played down talk about the meeting, supposedly aimed at dividing the tasks among “agents” to identify MPs who would defect to the opposition.

Deputy prime minister Fadillah Yusof, a senior GPS leader, had dismissed the speculation, saying MPs from the Sarawak coalition “have no time to entertain political drama”.

Abang Johari previously said GPS will back Anwar and the government until the 16th general election.

In February 2020, GPS had been part of the moves that led to the fall of the Pakatan Harapan government led by Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and backed Perikatan Nasional chairman Muhyiddin Yassin to become the new prime minister.

After Muhyiddin resigned in August 2021, GPS supported Bera MP Ismail Sabri Yaakob as prime minister.

After the 15th general election in November 2022 led to a hung Parliament, GPS and Gabungan Rakyat Sabah agreed to back Anwar as prime minister, becoming key allies for the formation of the unity government.