By Nur Ashikin Louis
KUCHING, July 30: Prime Minister Dato Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob making visits from state to state is a good indicator that the 15th General Election (GE15) is near, says Sarawak Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
He said the Federal Constitution states that the term for both Parliament and the State Assembly is five years which means that the term for the current Parliament established in 2018 will end in 2023.
“Election must be held before the expiry of the five-year term, which is usually on the fourth year or (after) four and a half years.
“Normally, a government will not drag right up to the last day because if anything happens just before the dissolution of Parliament, the (attempt) to have that damage controlled might not be possible,” he told reporters after officiating at the Kuching Festival Esports Challenge 2022 held at Kuching South City Council (MBKS) Auditorium today.
Abdul Karim, who is also Sarawak Minister for Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development, believed that Ismail Sabri’s recent visits to several states were part of the latter’s campaigning activities for the coming GE15.
“You can see the Prime minister is going from state to state now; that is a good indicator that the election is very near.
“It (electoral campaigning) can come under any name, it probably now comes under the ‘Malaysian Family Aspirations Tour’ programme, and it will be conducted in Sarawak from Aug 5 to 7,” he added.
The programme has so far been conducted in Johor, Perlis, Sabah, Terengganu, Perak, and most recently, Kelantan.
Asked about Gabungan Parti Sarawak’s (GPS) preparation for GE15, Abdul Karim, who is also Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) vice president, stated that the coalition’s election machinery is still very much oiled and in place since Sarawak just had its State election in Dec last year.
“The moment Parliament is dissolved, we will have the parliamentary election. And the same machinery that manned the previous State election will be there.
“Even for the Election Commission (EC) Sarawak, they don’t need another trial because they are already so oiled. They managed it very well last December (for the State election), so it’s just like asking them to do another one,” he explained.
He further hinted that there is bound to be 20 or 30 per cent of new faces contesting in the coming GE15 in Sarawak.
He also said while Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) is GPS’s ally at the federal level, the fate of its MPs, namely Datuk Ali Biju (Bersatu-Saratok) and Datuk Willie Mongin (Bersatu-Puncak Borneo) depends on the top leadership of GPS.
“But of course, I hope that Sarawakians will always go for candidates from Sarawakian-based parties because only Sarawakian-based parties will know the difficulties, shortcomings and needs of Sarawak.
“So if they want to contest and wish to win a seat, they should contest under GPS ticket or through component parties of GPS,” he elaborated. — DayakDaily
