Abang Johari (third left) makes a finger heart sign during a photo call. From right are Willie, Sagah, Miro, Dr Jerip, and Harry. – Photo by Chimon Upon
KUCHING (Nov 16): Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) has no political affiliation with parties in Peninsular Malaysia, said coalition chairman Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.
He stressed that the coalition needs to win big in the parliamentary election to ensure Sarawak has a strong voice in Parliament.
“To negotiate with KL, our voice must be strong. We in GPS are already on our own; we have no political affiliation with people over there.
“Some people ‘viralled’ the tagline ‘GPS menang, Zahid senang’ (GPS wins, Zahid is happy). That’s foolish!
“It should be ‘GPS menang, Abang Jo yang senang’ (GPS wins, Abang Jo is happy),” he said in jest to laughter from the crowd at the launch of the Sarawakku Sayang programme in Siniawan near here.
According to him, while GPS is not connected to parties in the peninsula, they are the ones who will need to rely on GPS.
He pointed out that with only 31 parliamentary seats in Sarawak, GPS cannot form the federal government even if it wins all the seats.
However, he said no single party or coalition would likely win the 222 parliamentary seats needed to form the federal government.
“So, whoever wants to work with GPS, they must know what to do for Sarawak.
“Because of that, we must send all the 31 GPS candidates to Parliament. When we are strong, we can continue to fight for Sarawak’s rights,” he stressed.
Abang Johari said because GPS has a strong voice in Parliament, the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) became part of the Federal Constitution.
He said GPS wanted the basis of the Constitution, that is Article 160 under the interpretation of the agreement, to be amended.
“We have succeeded to have it amended and gazetted, so the Malaysian Constitution now is based on the Federation of Malaya Agreement 1957 and the MA63, including the Inter-Governmental Committee Report (IGCR).
“That means our rights are included in the Constitution,” he explained.
Abang Johari said there are other things that still need to be fought for and sorted out, including recognising the state Public Works Department, Rural Water Supply Department, Irrigation and Drainage Department, as well as technical departments to implement federal projects in Sarawak, and giving the Head of State the right to appoint judicial commissioners.
He said that is why he wants to have many MPs from GPS in Parliament.
The Premier also reminded Sarawakians not to bring Peninsular Malaysian political culture to Sarawak.
“Our candidate for Puncak Borneo Datuk Willie Mongin has experienced it; that is why he joined PBB (Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu). He has gone through that experience of dealing with a Malayan party. It’s not easy.
“We too have gone through it when we were in Barisan Nasional (BN) before. In BN there are 14 parties, of which 12 are from Peninsular Malaysia and only four from Sarawak.
“If we want to talk about MA63 in BN, the four cannot beat the 12 because it’s all based on consensus; so how to fight?
“And after the last general election, we left BN and we have agreed that the four local based parties fight on their own feet under GPS. We all believe that we must struggle based on our spirit for Sarawak First,” he added.
Among those present were Minister for Education, Innovation and Talent Development Datuk Roland Sagah Wee Inn; deputy transport ministers Datuk Dr Jerip Susil and Datuk Henry Harry Jinep; Serembu assemblyman Miro Simuh; and GPS candidate for Puncak Borneo Datuk Willie Mongin.