KUCHING, Aug 6 — Armed with a magnificent victory in the last Sarawak 12th State Election, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) is now looking at creating a perfect score in its parliamentary general election debut by taking all the 31 seats in the state.

GPS chairman Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg said should everything that they anticipated come into place, the task of winning all the parliamentary seats at stake in the state is possible.

"This is the first election not like before because GPS will be on its own. The first one. The last time we were under BN (Barisan Nasional). This is the first election we are on our own (without making any pact with other parties),” he told a press conference here today.

Earlier, Abang Johari who is also Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) president, chaired the party’s supreme council meeting and in the current parliamentary term, the party has 13 Members of Parliament (MPs).

Three other GPS member parties are Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) which held two parliamentary seats, Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) also with two seats and Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP), with one seat.

Abang Johari who is also Sarawak Premier said several incumbents from PBB had expressed their desire not to be nominated again for the coming general election to pave the way for younger candidates to take over their tasks.

"I will tell you later who they are. When is the (GE-15), I don’t even know but there is an indication but I don’t have to disclose it now. I thanked (all leaders who are ready to step down). In PBB, we have the culture of leaders stepping down to give way to the younger generation,” he said.

He added that despite the changes, the core of GPS’ struggle since leaving BN has been to restore the rights of Sarawak under the Malaysian Agreement 1963 and Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) that had been eroded over the years. — Bernama