Sarawak’s ruling coalition, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), is gaining traction. Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah, who observed this, said the coalition, is gaining ground and is satisfactory.
“All over Sarawak, from Lundu to Lawas, I can see that the support of the rakyat is indeed very satisfactory.
“For instance, when we have an event, wherever it may be, thousands of GPS members and supporters wearing the GPS shirts will attend and show their support.
“This is an indication that the response from the rakyat is very good indeed,” he said in a recent interview in conjunction with the GPS Convention in Kuching today.
He said the people support GPS and its struggles, and expressed the hope that this spirit will continue till the state election.
“We are fighting to protect Sarawak and its rights. The leaders of Sarawak and this party of ‘anak tempatan Sarawak’ will continue to lead.
“From a leadership aspect, we can see that the leadership of our chief minister is clear and he is always very community-oriented.
“(Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi) Abang Johari is a leader for all, and we can see from his development programmes he is a very hard worker with high integrity. Furthermore, he has a strong spirit of loyalty,” said Uggah.
The deputy chief minister, who is a deputy president of PBB, said there is no other leadership other than GPS that is capable of protecting the rights of Sarawakians.
“This is the message that we would like to send during the convention,” he added.
He said the most important thing is that Sarawak must be led by Sarawakians. On the recent retreat for GPS members, Uggah said it was an opportunity for them to discuss and make suggestions on how to continue the coalition’s struggles.
“We discussed the weaknesses of GPS and its leaders as well as the strengths we have to develop upon as building blocks to strengthen ourselves.
“Our chief minister has this characteristic of openness — he is always open to opinions and suggestions. Everyone had the opportunity to share their views, he listened to their presentations all day. Some of them, he will take action as well.
“This input will help us to frame our policy direction,” he added. He said the retreat helped the coalition to better understand the problems faced by the people.
On the convention today, Uggah said it is the first since the official launching of GPS on January 19 this year.
“The goal of this convention is to gather representatives from the four component parties of GPS to meet and discuss a number of matters.
“During the convention, we will have talks on developments in Sarawak thus far, especially since the time GPS was formed,” he said.
