Mat Sabu lauds Sarawak move, hopes Perlis and Pahang follow suit

The action of four Sarawak BN component parties in leaving the coalition is a good development for Pakatan Harapan, said Amanah president Mohamad Sabu.

He said although the parties did not join Harapan, their action in leaving BN was seen as wanting to be together with the federal government led by Harapan.

"If they do not join Harapan but support us, maybe we can get up to two-thirds majority in the Dewan Rakyat whereby we can amend laws which we have been criticising all these while, like redelineation of electoral boundaries and so on.

"We will look at this development and it is still too early for me to comment further, but I am confident that their actions may be because they want to be with the federal government," he said in an exclusive interview with Bernama here today.

He said the latest development was expected to be discussed in detail in the coming Harapan presidential council.

Harapan is made up of Bersatu, DAP, PKR and Amanah.

Perlis, Pahang should follow suit

Mohamad, who is also defence minister, said that he hoped that two other states under BN administration, Perlis and Pahang, would follow Sarawak's footsteps and be together with the federal government.

He said the two states, especially Pahang, could not be administered without the support and aid of the federal government as its dependency and debt rate to the federal government were at an extremely high level.

"The state with the lowest or almost no debt to the federal government is Penang, that's what its previous chief minister Lim Guan Eng has done and we hope he will do better as finance minister," he said.

Sarawak BN chairperson Abang Johari Openg today announced that its parties Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) and Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP) were quitting BN.

Abang Johari, who is also Sarawak chief minister and PBB president, when announcing the matter said the four parties would create the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) coalition.

He stated that GPS would work with the federal government under Harapan, but would not join them and would move freely on its own.

- Bernama