Abdul Karim (fifth left) cutting the ribbon to mark the inauguration of the Youth and Entrepreneurs Kitchen in conjunction with the 2022 Youth Day Celebration at the Dataran Perayaan today. Also seen are Ripin (fourth right), Nancy (third left) and Safiee (fourth left).
KUCHING (Oct 19): There will be surprises in the list of Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) candidates for the coming parliamentary election, said Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) vice president Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
He said this is in view of GPS winning 19 out of 31 seats in the previous parliamentary election in 2018, which prompted the coalition to field new faces.
“Just wait for the announcement. We might have (new) young candidates and even women… just wait for the announcement from the Premier of Sarawak,” he told reporters today.
During the same press conference, he defended his previous statement that about 30 per cent of GPS candidates for the coming parliamentary election would be new faces.
He said there were people who accused him of overriding the Premier of Sarawak, but what he really said at the time was purely based on mathematical calculation and nothing more than that.
“19 seats out of 31 is 30 per cent. Since we lost 12 seats in the 2018 parliamentary election it really means that about 30 new faces will be fielded in the next parliamentary election,” he said.
Though GPS won 19 seats in the 2018 parliamentary election, GPS however had 20 incumbents before the dissolution of Parliament after Puncak Borneo incumbent Datuk Willie Mongin joined PBB in August this year.
Meanwhile, GPS chairman Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg commented on Tuesday that candidates for the seats GPS will be contesting have almost all been decided among the component parties, save for a few seats.
“Right now, we still have a few seats as we have to see the situation (first) because we don’t know when is nomination day yet,” said Abang Johari when speaking to reporters after chairing two meetings – one with PBB leaders and incumbents and another one with the GPS supreme council at Wisma PBB.
GPS will have its own manifesto for the 15th General Election (GE15) as it faces its first national polls on its own without support from a Peninsula-based coalition while seeking a strong voice in Parliament.
Before speaking to reporters, Abdul Karim officiated at the inauguration of the Youth and Entrepreneurs Kitchen in conjunction with the 2022 Youth Day Celebration at the Dataran Perayaan here.
Also present were Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Deputy Minister Dr Ripin Lamat, the ministry’s permanent secretary Nancy Jolhi and Daro assemblyman Safiee Ahmad.