Abdul Karim: ‘No room’ for Bersatu in next state polls under GPS ticket

KUCHING (Apr 12): There is no room for Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) to stand in the next State Election under the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) ticket, said Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) vice president Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.

He said this was because the state coalition had identified its candidates to stand in all the 82 seats.

He added that in order for a candidate to be endorsed by GPS for the election, he or she must come from one of the four component parties of the coalition namely PBB, Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP), Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and Progressive Democratic Party (PDP).

“GPS has identified its candidates in all 82 seats for the next State Election which means that all of these candidates are from GPS.

“Where Bersatu comes in on this, it’s hard for me to say. When we cross the bridge, we will decide on this,” he told a press conference at Baitulmakmur Building here.

He was asked to comment on Bersatu Supreme Council member Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin’s statement yesterday where she had said that Bersatu will be placing its candidate to stand in the 12th State election using the GPS ticket.

Abdul Karim, who is Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister, said if there were candidates from Bersatu and GPS contesting in the state election, it may cause confusion.

“If there are dual party members, say one is from Bersatu and one is from GPS, that can be a little bit confusing. They have to make up their mind,” he said.

Nevertheless, he said GPS would address this issue properly because the coalition supports Perikatan Nasional (PN) at federal level.

“PN was established for the sake of stability with the support of GPS. We also hope that PN will reciprocate when we are facing our State Election.

“At present, everybody knows…it’s acknowledged by PN and Bersatu that they support GPS as the government for Sarawak,” he said.

Zuraida on Sunday said Bersatu would contest under the GPS ticket in the state election to avoid confusion among Sarawakian voters.

She was reported by a local Malay daily as saying that the party wanted to make it easier for Sarawakians to make their choice and to support the federal government. BP