Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah
KUCHING: Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah believes that the state election would be held sooner rather than later.
The Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) vice-president says with the current Sarawak State Legislative Assembly (DUN)’s term expiring in May 2021, the period between now and then is ‘just nice’ to call for an election.
Video by Roy Emmor
“The way I see it, it’s just nice between now and next year. The Chief Minister will definitely have to take into account the monsoon season, the fasting month, major festive and school holidays, school examinations and so on,” he said during an interview at his office in Bangunan Baitulmakmur in Petra Jaya here yesterday.
When asked for a specific time frame for the polls, he opined that ‘it would not be too near … it would not be very far either’.
“The final say rests with our Chief Minister. But even though he has not indicated to me (on when the state election will be held), as someone who has been in politics for four terms, I believe that it will be soon.
“We can’t really go wrong. As it is, the opposition is always on the ground so that means they know it will be soon,” he added.
With this in mind, Abdul Karim said Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) leaders and elected representatives must start going to the ground now, especially those representing the rural areas.
“We should not wait until the Chief Minister goes to the ground in order for us to follow suit. We must make our move now and if there are any longhouses or villages that the GPS has not been too, then we shall go there.
“We must move our GPS Women and Youth wings on the ground to explain to the people about GPS and do what needs to be done,” he remarked.
In view that this would be the first time for the coalition to contest in the election under the ‘GPS branding’, Abdul Karim said so far, the coalition had been well received by the people.
“I’ve been to a few places, most recently Suai, and the turnout to our event was 7,000 people, which was 2,000 more than our initial 5,000 target.
“This shows that the ‘rakyat’ (people) is attracted to GPS and our ‘Burung Kenyalang’ (hornbill) logo. It is something good. I can see that Sarawakians accept GPS and its leadership,” he said.