KUCHING, Nov 22 — Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) is leaving it to the discretion of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to appoint the prime minister to lead a stable federal government in accordance with the Federal Constitution, the Sarawak Premier’s Office said today.
The Sarawak Premier’s Office said GPS has stressed that the interest of the country and the formation of a stable government are the priority, saying people and country come before personal interest.
“In view of the political crisis in peninsular Malaysia, GPS is of the view that the mandate of the people must be respected,” it said in a statement.
The Sarawak Premier’s Office also said GPS had already submitted a proposal to form the next federal government with Perikatan Nasional (PN), Barisan Nasional (BN) and Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) to represent the various communities and religions in Malaysia.
However, GPS’ decision to form the federal government with PN did not go down well with Sarawakians and local parties.
This is because they were uncomfortable with past statements from PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang regarding other races and religions.
PAS is a component party of PN.
In the 15th general election (GE15), GPS won 23 out of the 31 federal seats in Sarawak that were up for grabs.
GE15 ended on Saturday with both the Pakatan Harapan and PN coalitions claiming to have enough numbers in the 222-seat Parliament to form government.
PH currently has 82 seats while PN has 73. The BN coalition, which had pushed for national polls to be held this year ahead of the GE14 expiry next year, only garnered 30 seats.
The Yang di-Pertuan Agong has given prospective prime minister candidates a revised deadline of 2pm today to prove that they have a majority.
