Gabungan Parti Sarawak in the dark over pact with Barisan Nasional to form government after Malaysia GE15

LAWAS, Sarawak: Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) chairman Abang Johari Abang Openg said on Tuesday (Nov 8) that he was not aware of a purported agreement that his coalition had agreed to support Barisan Nasional (BN) in forming a government after the 15th General Election (GE15).

This came after United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) secretary general Ahmad Maslan was quoted as saying by Malaysian media last month that the leaders of the two coalitions had held a meeting, during which the Sarawak-based coalition “did not reject the proposal of GPS working with BN as long as BN is the dominant party”. 

Mr Abang Johari, who is also Sarawak’s premier, said that as far as the coalition is concerned, there is no such agreement.

“I don't know about that (agreement with BN), I just read about it (the news report) too,” he was quoted as saying by Bernama on Tuesday.

GPS is a coalition comprising Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP), Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and Progressive Democratic Party (PDP). They are former component parties of BN.

In June 2018, they announced their exit from BN. 

Previously, Mr Abang Johari had admitted that several political alliances in Peninsular Malaysia tried to persuade him to get the support of GPS to strengthen their position to form a government after GE15.

Earlier, he made several statements which indicated that he was willing to support any party that is able to form a strong and stable government.

In GE15, GPS component parties are contesting in all 31 federal seats in Sarawak. Before the coalition was formed in June 2018, the parties won 19 out of 31 seats when they contested in GE14 under the BN banner.  

Pakatan Harapan (PH) said on Sunday that the coalition is aiming to win more than 90 seats in Peninsular Malaysia before working with a coalition in East Malaysia to form the government. 

This will be possible if the voter turnout this year is more than 70 per cent, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) deputy president Rafizi Ramli said.