GPS chairman Abang Johari Openg today sought to play down speculation of internal strife within the coalition following PSB’s dissolution and its leaders joining the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP), a GPS component.
When asked what would happen to seats allocated to the Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) but won by PSB in the 2021 state polls, he said the ruling coalition would cross that bridge when they got there.
“It’s okay. We will discuss it when (the state election comes). When is the next election? It’s definitely not this year,” he told reporters after the state government’s Hari Raya open house in Kuching this afternoon.
“So we’ll see what happens. After all, it’s just two seats (that would be under dispute). Ba’Kelalan is (traditionally contested by) PDP. So it’s just Bawang Assan and Engkilili.
“So it’ll be up to them how they negotiate.”
PSB was recently dissolved, with its three assemblymen and other members joining Tiong King Sing’s PDP.
Analysts had expected this move to cause internal strife within the coalition, particularly since the then PSB president Wong Soon Koh was formerly of SUPP, a GPS component.
Wong, who served as Sarawak’s second finance minister for 15 years, was sacked from SUPP in 2014. He has been the Bawang Assan assemblyman since 1991 and defeated SUPP’s Robert Lau at the 2021 polls.
PSB contested against GPS in the 2021 Sarawak elections and won four out of the 82 seats contested. It then had three seats after Batu Lintang assemblyman See Chee How left the party in 2022.
Besides Wong, its remaining assemblymen are former PKR vice-president Baru Bian (Ba’Kelalan) and Johnical Rayong Ngipa (Engkilili).
Following PSB’s dissolution, Wong was made a senior vice-president of PDP while Baru and Rayong were also appointed to the party’s top leadership.
Abang Johari said what was more pertinent was that the former PSB leaders now recognised the work and achievements of the GPS state government.
“During the last election they questioned GPS’s policies. But now they have acknowledged the fact that GPS has delivered. And we have a very clear direction on what we are going to do with Sarawak.
“That’s important. So the whole of Sarawak should be united as one.”