Abang Johari checking out a telescope at the ‘Karnival Falak Nusantara’ astronomy programme at Kuching Waterfront today. – Photo by Muhammad Rais Sanusi

KUCHING (July 8): Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) chairman Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg said he remained non-committal on whether the state ruling coalition will assist the unity government in the upcoming six state elections in Peninsular Malaysia.

“That’s a political question and I don’t want to talk about politics,” he told reporters when asked after officiating at the ‘Karnival Falak Nusantara’ astronomy programme at Kuching Waterfront here today.

Many people have been waiting for the Sarawak Premier to respond after Deputy Prime Minister and Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had recently conveyed his wishes for GPS leaders to come and help in the campaigning for the elections in the peninsula.

The Election Commission (EC) has announced polling day for Penang, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu elections to be this Aug 12, with early voting set on Aug 8.

BN, Pakatan Harapan (PH) and GPS are parts of the federal unity government led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Meanwhile, Abang Johari acknowledged that the World Bank has accorded a high-income status to Sarawak in accordance with the state’s latest gross national income (GNI) per capita’s statistic.

“We can redistribute the wealth through our developmental policies and infrastructure development that can increase the household income of our people. More jobs will be created along the way and their salary will increase,” he explained.

He added that financial instruments can be deployed to redistribute the state’s wealth to the people, such as via the tax avenue, and companies that earn more profit should give back to the society.

He was also confident of the state’s revenue to be achieved this year because the figures for the first half of the year have been encouraging.

During the officiating ceremony, Abang Johari highlighted to the crowd about the state’s government initiatives related to hydrogen economy, and the carbon capture and storage project, as well as the goal of planting 35 million trees by 2025.