KUCHING, Oct 2 — The timing of the 15th General Election (GE15), whether it will be held this year or next year, will not have much impact on the readiness of Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), said Datuk Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.

The Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) vice-president believed that all political parties in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak will be ready to face the parliamentary election should it be called soon.

“Whether the 15th General Election is going to be held this year or next year, for us in Sarawak, we just wait for the drums to be sounded on the dissolution of the Parliament,” said Abdul Karim after flagging off the 42-kilometre category of the Kuching Marathon 2022 at Padang Merdeka here early this morning.

When asked on the possibility of floods at the end of the year that might coincide with the timing of the election, Abdul Karim brushed off such concern, saying nobody knows what exactly will happen in the future.

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“Whenever we are near to an election, there is always many tactics being deployed, whether its expressing concerns over earthquake, floods or typhoon.

“For all you know, it might be a peaceful (election). You can’t really predict whether there is going to be floods,” he said.

Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan had recently announced that the party’s supreme council has decided the Parliament need to be dissolved soon for GE15 to be held this year.

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He said the decision was arrived at after an Umno supreme council meeting was convened Friday night and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob will propose the date for Parliament’s dissolution to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, in line with the federal constitution.

The announcement from Umno had attracted criticisms from the Opposition parties as they claimed that the dissolution of Parliament might coincide with the monsoon season at the end of the year with flooding issues happening across the country. — Borneo Post