Sarawak election: Can GPS maintain its overwhelming dominance?
KUCHING: The 13th Sarawak election will be less about determining who will form the state government and more about how far the opposition can erode the dominance of Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), which enters the election with an overwhelming political advantage.
The forthcoming 13th Sarawak election is poised to focus more on the opposition's ability to diminish the ruling Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) dominance, rather than deciding the assembly composition. In the 2021 election, GPS secured 76 out of the 82 seats, with Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) obtaining four and DAP securing two. However, after See Chee How left PSB to become an independent, and three other PSB assemblymen joined Parti Demokratik Progresif (PDP), a GPS component party, the latter now controls 79 seats.
A further PSB ex-assemblyman, See Chee How, remains an independent, backing the government, which now holds 80 out of 82 seats. With the state assembly dissolved, the main question in the upcoming election is if GPS can maintain its overwhelming majority. GPS is expected to retain most of the 76 seats it won previously, with 45 to 50 considered GPS safe seats, and 20 to 25 classified as grey seats favoring the ruling coalition.
These grey seats include several traditionally strongholds for PBB, PDP, and PRS, with narrow winning margins in the 12th state election. While GPS is confident in retaining at least two-thirds of the seats, PBB information chief Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah acknowledges that certain constituencies require special attention due to the possibility of changes in candidates and the participation of opposition parties like Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Pas, as well as local parties such as PBDS, ASPIRASI, Wawasan Rakyat, and Bumi Kenyalang.
Written by urgent.news from New Straits Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
