KUCHING: The Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government has delegated the task of determining when the 15th General Election (GE15) should be held to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
According to Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg, his party would obey the prime minister’s decision as the federal government has the right to dissolve Parliament.
He said this to reporters when asked about Ismail Sabri’s statement stating that now is not the best time to hold the GE15 because the country is suffering several difficulties such as growing living costs and high inflation.
“Sarawak has no problem because the federal government decides on the dissolution of Parliament, so it’s up to the prime minister,” he said.
Abang Johari, who is also GPS chairman, told this to reporters at the Gawai Dayak open house hosted by Dayak leaders from the Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) here, today.
Commenting on the state government’s efforts to tackle inflation, he said the initiatives have been presented by him during the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting last week.
He said in his winding up speech, he has mentioned that his party would introduce discounts on electricity tariffs to food retailers including coffee shops, restaurants and other businesses, in order to lower business costs and, as a result, lower food market prices.
All of this, he added, was due to present geopolitical tensions, which are causing imported inflation, as well as the Ringgit Malaysia’s performance versus the US dollar, which fell by 0.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2022.
He added the weakening Malaysian currency would raise import prices, burdening both consumers and importers.
“Since Malaysia was a net importer of food, imported inflation had pushed up food costs in the country,” he stressed.
