Abang Johari, who heads the ruling GPS coalition, said the candidate must be acceptable to all parties, especially the voters.

“If this condition is met, it does not matter about background or place…if the community accepts them then why don’t we appoint them (as candidates),” he told reporters after officiating the PBB Youth convention here today.

He said 30% of PBB’s election candidates must be new faces, and the old experienced faces should work with these new faces.

Abang Johari said PBB Youth members must be adequately trained to interact well with diverse backgrounds of Sarawak’s communities.

He said young people should not be too eager to move quickly to advance themselves in politics while also avoiding being too extreme to the point of being willing to use religion to get support. “That is something dangerous. What is important is to maintain the security of the state of Sarawak,” said Abang Johari, who is Sarawak premier.

The new leaders must be wise to take care of what will happen in the future by gaining as much knowledge as possible in the field of technology to help the people.

He described the establishment of the PBB Youth wing would provide room for those aged 18 to 28 to become PBB members and be able to contribute towards the development of the party and GPS.

He said the participation in the youth wing would be akin to internships in corporate settings, where they gain knowledge and continue to contribute to Sarawak and Malaysia.