GPS wants Ali Biju to walk the talk
SARAWAK POLLS | GPS leaders want Bersatu's Ali Biju to walk the talk after he withdrew his candidacy for the Krian state seat and backed the GPS candidate.
Caretaker deputy chief minister Awang Tengah Ali Hasan said even though Ali announced the withdrawal of his candidacy, his name will still appear on the ballot paper.
"So, I hope he will work hard on...
SARAWAK POLLS | GPS leaders want Bersatu's Ali Biju to walk the talk after he withdrew his candidacy for the Krian state seat and backed the GPS candidate.
Caretaker deputy chief minister Awang Tengah Ali Hasan (above) said even though Ali announced the withdrawal of his candidacy, his name will still appear on the ballot paper.
"So, I hope he will work hard on explaining to his supporters and voters so that he and his supporters will support the GPS candidate since he made it clear that it is his responsibility to support the GPS candidate," Awang Tengah was quoted as saying by Borneo Post.
Bersatu decided not to contest in the Sarawak polls out of respect for the Sarawak-based GPS coalition but Ali went rogue and submitted his candidacy for the Krian seat, where he is the incumbent. He is also the Saratok MP.
GPS' terms for political cooperation are for its partners not to contest in Sarawak. In the past, when GPS was part of BN, Umno and other peninsular Malaysia-based parties also did not contest in the state.
GPS is part of the federal government, together with PN, BN, and PBS.
After Ali went rogue, his party intervened and he later announced that he was withdrawing his candidacy for the Krian seat.
He also appealed to GPS to allow him to defend his Saratok parliamentary seat in the national polls due in 2023 in exchange for "sacrificing" Krian.
Meanwhile, PDP deputy president Anthony Nogeh Gumbek urged Ali to campaign for GPS' candidate.
"As his name will still appear on the ballot paper, I urge Ali to accompany and campaign for our GPS candidate to show his sincerity. Let the past be the past," Anthony was quoted as saying by Borneo Post.
Ali won the Krian seat in the 2016 state election under the PKR ticket with 5,388 votes to Sarawak BN's 3,748 votes.
Sarawak BN, comprising PBB, PRS, PDP, and SUPP, had since quit BN to form GPS but remains friendly to its ex-coalition partners. Ali defected from PKR to Bersatu in 2020.
Sarawak state elections 2021 - What you need to know
Election pledges so far:
GPS promises continuity, independence from other political forces
Sarawak polls: PSB pledges freehold land, secularism, reforestation
PBK promises RM3k, independence, end to statelessness
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