Sarawak state polls boost Malaysia’s ruling coalition, expose opposition weakness: analysts
- Gabungan Parti Sarawak, a political coalition allied to Malaysia’s federal government, won 76 of the Sarawak state assembly’s 82 seats in Saturday’s polls
- Analysts said the result strengthens Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s ruling alliance and will renew calls for opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim to step aside
Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) on Saturday retained its hold on power in Malaysia’s largest state by capturing 76 of the Sarawak state assembly’s 82 seats, bettering their performance in 2016 by four seats.
“[GPS’ victory] will boost Ismail Sabri indirectly because he doesn’t have to worry about Sarawak in the next general election with the momentum built by GPS,” said James Chin, professor of Asian Studies at the University of Tasmania.
Sarawak has 31 seats in Malaysia’s 222-seat parliament – nearly 14 per cent of the total and more than any other state.
Chin, who hails from Sarawak, said he now thinks GPS will do “even better than the 19 seats they currently hold” in the next general election, which some pundits expect to be held as early as next year.