DARO, Oct 24 — Every potential Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) candidate for the 15th general election (GE15) would be vetted by the police, Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and the Department of Insolvency, said Premier Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg.

“If they pass, they would be fielded as our candidates.

“If they fail, they would not be our candidates,” he said in a press conference after having officiated at the launch of Daro Sports Complex yesterday.

Adding on Abang Johari, who is also GPS chairman, said it would be highly possible for the GPS to field new and young faces as its candidates for the 12 seats that it lost during the 14th general election, in 2018.

These seats are Lubok Antu, Mas Gading, Puncak Borneo, Saratok, Julau, Selangau, Sarikei, Sibu, Miri, Bandar Kuching, Stampin and Lanang.

“Who will be the candidates for these 12 seats? Wait for the day when we announce our candidates,” he said.

Earlier in his speech, Abang Johari thanked the incumbents from the Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) who had already volunteered to step down in order to give way to new faces.

He said it had always been a practice within the PBB and other GPS component parties to groom new blood to replace the ‘old leaders’ when the time came for the latter to step down.

On the possibility of GPS winning all 31 seats in Sarawak in GE15, the Premier said it was still too early for him to predict anything.

Nonetheless, he said based on the sentiment on the ground, it seemed that the GPS had a good proven track record, while referring to the amendment to the Federal Constitution that gave recognition to the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) and Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) Report.

“That is among a few things that we have achieved in our series of discussions with the federal government.

“There are three things that are important to Sarawak. Firstly, the reasonable formula for the allocation of special annual grants as stipulated under the Article 112D of the Federal Constitution. In this matter, the federal government has agreed to include state civil servants from Sarawak in the Inland Revenue Board,” he said.

The administration of Sarawak’s court of law would be the second thing that the state would continue to fight for, he added.

“Previously, we had the Court of Borneo and Court of Malaya, where lawyers outside Sarawak were not allowed to practise in the state. So we want to maintain that arrangement and also from the aspect of recognising the Court of Borneo.

“Now we have the High Court of Sabah and Sarawak, and we want it to be reverted to the way it was before.

“We also want the appointment of judicial commissioners to be referred to the Yang Di-Pertua Negeri Sarawak (TYT) first because that is the right of our TYT.

“We must save a certain power to weigh on the candidates picked to become judicial commissioner.”

The third matter would be the recognition of technical departments by the federal government in the implementation of federal projects in Sarawak, said the Premier.

“We want federal projects implemented in Sarawak to be supervised by our technical departments such as the Drainage and Irrigation Department, Rural Water Supply Department and Public Works Department,” he stressed.

Separately, Abang Johari said that the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government under the leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob understood the needs of Sarawak.

“If the federal government did not cooperate with the state government, they’d have a problem and we’d also have a problem.

“It means that I already have an alternative. You must understand the concept of federalism.

“We have a federation where there are powers under the state, and there are powers under the federal (government) according to what’s written in the Federal Constitution, MA63 and IGC.

“There are powers that we share, and there are powers within ours,” he said.

The event yesterday was also attended by Minister of Utility and Telecommunication Datuk Julaihi Narawi, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Urban Development Datuk Len Talif Salleh, Igan incumbent Ahmad Johnie Zawawi, Tanjung Manis incumbent Yusuf Abdul Wahab and Daro assemblyman Safiee Ahmad. — Borneo Post