Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah
KUCHING (Sept 9): Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah believes that the general election should be held simultaneously with the Sarawak polls, adding that it is likely that the state election will be held by the end of this year.
The Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu vice president said if Prime MInister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin decides to call a snap election first, Sarawak should also dissolve the State Assembly for the state polls to be held at the same time.
“Both the state and general election should be held simultaneously due to the current political situation in the country with the (federal) government having a slim majority (in Parliament),” he told reporters here.
He was asked to comment on Muhyiddin’s call on Perikatan Nasional (PN) parties yesterday to “work extremely hard as if the election is going to be held tomorrow.”
Abdul Karim pointed out that the difference in seats in the Dewan Rakyat between the government and the opposition was so slim that if a parliamentarian passed away or defects, there could be a hung parliament.
He said it was likely that Sarawak would hold its polls by the end of this year due to “many events going on in the state” next year, although he did not specify what the events were.
PN holds 113 seats in the 222-seat parliament after the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government in February this year.
Pakatan Harapan had swept to power in the 14th general election (GE14) in 2018.
On the Sarawak election due middle next year, Abdul Karim said there was much anticipation of the polls being held soon.
“It is an open secret that it (the election) will be held soon and the way I see it right now maybe by the end of the year. We are ready for it and so are the opposition,” he said.
Abdul Karim believed that GPS would perform better than in the previous state election.
He also felt that all the Peninsula Malaysia-based parties could be wiped out during the polls because of the lacklustre performance of Pakatan Harapan when it was in power, adding that Sarawakians now would want to vote for local parties.
“We (GPS) have been doing our job well in taking care of the state and Sarawakians know that. Sarawakians have also realised now that the Peninsula Malaysia-based parties do not understand the needs of Sarawak and its people,” he said.
Apart from that, he also believed that GPS would have no problem facing the challenges posed by other political parties.
GPS currently represents 68 out of 82 state seats.