PBB vice-president hints at impending polls in Sarawak

Sarawak Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) vice-president Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah today said the overdue election in the state might be called by the end of November, soon after the Melaka polls on Nov 20.

“I would not be surprised if the Sarawak state election is held soon after Melaka, but we’ll wait until tomorrow, these two to three days,” he said a press conference in Kuching.

“I think what the media feels is also felt by us. We too can feel the heat (of the election),” he added.

He also urged for strict compliance with SOPs once they are laid out by the Election Commission (EC).

“We must abide by whatever SOPs are set by the EC,” he said. “We don’t want to repeat what happened in Sabah last year. It was a bitter experience for us.”

Speculation is rife that the Sarawak state assembly will be dissolved this week, paving the way for polls to be held soon after the Melaka election.

But this would require the revocation of the state of emergency in Sarawak, declared to prevent elections from being held during the pandemic.

The state of emergency expires in February.

Unlike the convention in other states, Sarawak’s state seats are contested separately from the general election.

The five-year mandate for the Sarawak government expired on Aug 1 this year, and an election was supposed to be called within two months.

However, a nationwide virus emergency which took effect in January meant that elections could not be held.