GPS sec-gen expects Sarawak state election to be held in less than a year

SERIAN, May 27 — Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) secretary-general Datuk Alexander Nanta Linggi today said he expects the state election to be held soon as the current term of the Sarawak State Assembly is going to expire in less than a year from now.

“I would not know how soon the state election is going to be held. That you have to ask the chief minister (Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Openg), but it has to be carried out in less than a year’s time,” he told reporters after touring the Serian Wet Market here.

“One year is the most we have of the remaining current term (of the state assembly),” Nanta, who is also the federal Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs, said.

He said the four component parties of GPS consisting of Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB), Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP), Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) ― have already started making preparation for the state polls.

He said the preparation is not just for the state election, but also the parliamentary election.

“So from what I know all four component parties have been making preparation in their own ways and we as members of the respective parties, are on our toes, especially when we know that we will have to have the election soon,” Nanta, who is also PBB secretary-general, said.

He, however, stressed that the component parties have yet to discuss the lists of potential candidates.

He said the respective leaders of the component parties will have to sit down and consider the name lists submitted by the respective parties.

Nanta said Abang Johari, who is also PBB president, will discuss with the senior leaders before finalising the names of candidates from the party.

In the last state election, the then state Barisan Nasional won 72 out of 82 seats up for grabs in the Sarawak State Assembly.

After the May 9, 2018 general election, the four component parties left the state Barisan Nasional to form GPS.