GABUNGAN Parti Sarawak (GPS) would have fought Perikatan Nasional (PN) if the federal ruling coalition had decided to contest in the Sarawak polls, said Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg.

Abang Johari was responding to PN’s decision last week that the ruling coalition would assist GPS in the coming state polls.

“If they had decided to fight us, we would have accepted and fought back,” the chief minister said.

“But since they have decided to support us, all I can say is: ‘thank you for supporting us’. We accept (the help).”

He was commenting on the PN supreme council’s decision to mobilise its machinery at every level to assist GPS when the Sarawak coalition was still undecided on giving seats to Bersatu or PAS, the two key members of PN.

GPS is not a formal member of PN but supports it to provide political stability to embattled Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

Muhyiddin’s party, Bersatu, and PAS, are both hoping to secure seats in the state elections.

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang attended the PN meeting chaired by Muhyiddin.

The seat allocation in the four-party GPS – Abang Johari’s Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), the Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) and Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) – have been cemented with the parties contesting in seats they were given in the previous election.

Yesterday, Sarawak PAS information chief Zharudin Narudin Zharudin welcomed the announcement by the supreme council to deploy PN election machinery and grassroot supporters to help GPS secure a big victory.

PAS spread its wings to Sarawak in 1996 as part of the opposition with DAP and PKR.

It has, however, not won any seats since its first participation in the state election in 2001.

The party contested 11 seats in the 2016 state polls.

Abang Johari said he still has no idea when he could call for the election.

“Up to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. We are still in a state of emergency,” he said.

The state of emergency to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic was declared on January 12 and to end on August 1, but the mandate of the Sarawak legislative assembly ends in early June. – April 6, 2021.