GABUNGAN Parti Sarawak (GPS) has won 64 out of the 82 seats contested in the Sarawak state election, obtaining a supermajority to form the new state government, as of 9.50pm today.
The results came in to no surprise due to the coalition’s firm grip on Sarawak politics, despite breaking away from Barisan Nasional (BN) following the 14th General Election.
According to Malaysiakini, top leaders from GPS have gathered at the Borneo Convention Centre Sarawak to celebrate the win.
“Sarawak first,” the leaders shouted in unison, led by coalition chairperson Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg, who is popularly known as Abang Jo.
However, it is to note that Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) surprised pundits by winning three seats as of now, with Baru Bian winning the Ba’kelalan constituency.
Baru Bian was formerly Sarawak PKR chief.
PSB president Wong Soon Koh has also retained the Bawang Assan seat, which he had kept since 1991. He was formerly a Sarawak Cabinet member.
The third seat won by PSB was the Engkili seat, where the party’s Johnichal Rayong Ngipa garnered 3,246 votes, defeating GPS’ Desmond Sateng Sanjan who got 2,055 votes.
The state polls also dealt a massive blow to Pakatan Harapan, with the DAP only winning two seats as opposed to seven it gained in 2016.
The party only managed to retain Padungan and Pending and its state chapter chief Chong Chieng Jien said his party accepted the decision made by voters.
“We will do a review and make the necessary adjustments,” the Padungan state seat winner added.
Stay away “political frogs”, Abang Jo says
Its partner, PKR, did not even a single seat this time around despite winning three in 2016, a grisly reminder of the party’s equally poor performance in the Melaka state election.
And as expected, PAS’ sole candidate for the state polls, Arif Paijo was trounced by its incumbent Razaili Gapor from Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), the head honcho party of GPS.
On related matter, Abang Johari said that GPS would not be entertaining any requests from those planning to defect to his coalition following the massive win.
“We dislike ‘frogs’. No, we don’t want frogs. Our win shows that Sarawakians believe GPS is the best coalition to look out for their interest,” he stressed. – Dec 18, 2021
