Muhyiddin pushing Abang Jo to show stronger support for PN?

 

Muhyiddin Yassin (right) in conversation with Abang Johari. (Bernama pic)

KUCHING: A political analyst has suggested that Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is putting pressure on Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg to state openly that Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) fully supports Perikatan Nasional (PN).

Azmi Hassan, formerly of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, said solid support from GPS was critical to PN in its attempt to show it had a high chance of forming the next federal government.

“When Muhyiddin said he would leave it to Abang Johari to decide if PPBM will contest in the state polls, he was actually pressuring Abang Johari to make a decision to show that the state’s ruling coalition is strongly behind PN,” Azmi told FMT.

“Muhyiddin, as PPBM president, should in fact be the one to make the decision.”

Last week, the prime minister said the decision on whether PPBM would contest in the Sarawak election would be left to the discretion of the chief minister and other Sarawak leaders.

Azmi said parties in GPS had been pragmatic in their approach. They are only partners to PN and not a member of the coalition. There is thus no guarantee that they will support PN all the way, even after GE15.

“That’s why the prime minister wants GPS to come out very strongly in support of PN or PPBM,” he said.

But another analyst, Awang Azman Pawi of Universiti Malaya, said it appeared to him that Muhyiddin genuinely believed Abang Johari could make the best decision for Sarawak.

He said the prime minister had made it clear that the bottom line was having GPS on his side to achieve a landslide victory and that seat allocation would be secondary. This meant that he was allowing Abang Johari to make the final decision, he added.

“Of course, Muhyiddin wants PPBM to contest in Sarawak to strengthen the position of his party but he needs to respect Abang Johari to maintain a good relationship with Sarawak,” he said. - FMT