By Nur Ashikin Louis, Chris Bishop and Karen Bong
KUCHING, Oct 29: “Don’t be lokek (stingy) with people of Sarawak but work together to rise together”, Premier of Sarawak Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg tells the Federal government.
With that, Abang Johari emphasised that Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) stood resolute in sending a louder voice to Parliament through its 31 candidates this coming 15th General Election (GE15) to demand her rights as enshrined in Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) and Inter-Governmental Commission (IGC) Report.
“Malaysia is a Federation country and unilaterally, where there are powers that come under the central government and the State governments, as well as power sharing in certain subject matters.
“As such, it is important for Malaysia to govern the country by considering our (Sarawak’s) interests under the concept of Federation. GPS will absolutely emphasise the eroded rights,” he said when launching the GPS Youth machinery for GE15 at the Indoor Stadium in Petra Jaya today.
Expressing his appreciation to the Federal government for amending the Federal Constitution to give recognition to the MA63 and IGC Report, Abang Johari, who is also GPS chairman, noted that there are still matters yet to be resolved.
“However, looking at the past five years, GPS has played a responsible role not only based on political arrangement but also the stability of the country, especially our role in the (past political) crisis after GE14 that has since seen the changing of three prime ministers.
“Despite the 22 months under the PH (Pakatan Harapan government), Sarawak maintained its development agenda with GPS rolling out its own strategies and strengthening our financial position,” he pointed out.
With GPS’ vision for 2030, Abang Johari said they would continue to pursue its vision to benefit the current and future generations.
GE15 will be GPS’ — comprising four component parties of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP), Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), and Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) — first major general electoral outing on its own without joining any coalition with parties from Peninsular Malaysia.
“As I have mentioned earlier, in the coming State Legislative Assembly (DUN) Sitting, we will introduce the sovereign wealth fund law, which is for the younger generation to have a strong financial backing and economy.
“In addition, we will have a higher education agenda so that our talent development is in line with the economic changes based on the new economy,” he added.
Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, State PBB permanent chairman Tan Sri Mohamad Asfia Awang Nassar, senior GPS leaders including PBB Women chief Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah, as well as parties’ youth chiefs Miro Simuh (PBB), Michael Tiang (SUPP), Datuk Snowdan Lawan (PRS), and David Yeo (PDP) were present. — DayakDaily
