ARMED with a magnificent victory in last year’s state elections, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) is now looking at achieving a perfect score in its general election debut by taking all the 31 seats in the state.

GPS chairman Abang Johari Openg said should everything that they anticipated come into place, the task of winning all the parliamentary seats at stake in the state is possible.

“This is the first election not like before because GPS will be on its own),” he told a press conference in Kuching today.

“The first one. The last time we were under BN (Barisan Nasional). This is the first election we are on our own (without making any pact with other parties).”

Earlier, Abang Johari, who is also Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) president, chaired the party’s supreme council meeting and in the current parliamentary term, the party has 13 MPs.

Three other GPS member parties are Parti Rakyat Sarawak, which holds two parliamentary seats; Progressive Democratic Party, also with two seats; and Sarawak United Peoples’ Party, with one seat.

Abang Johari, who is also Sarawak premier, said several incumbents from PBB have expressed their desire not to be nominated again for the next general election to pave the way for younger candidates to take over their tasks.

“I will tell you later who they are. When is the (general election), I don’t even know but there is an indication but I don’t have to disclose it now,” he said.

“I thanked (all leaders who are ready to step down). In PBB, we have the culture of leaders stepping down to make way for the younger generation.”

He said despite the changes, the core of GPS’ struggle since leaving BN has been to restore the rights of Sarawak under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and Inter-Governmental Committee that have been eroded over the years. – Bernama, August 6, 2022.