COMMENT | Muhyiddin Yassin’s attempts at damage control after the boo-boo he committed in warning Malay Muslims about a Jewish-Christian plot to Christianise them are not likely to succeed.

Not only that, his mistake will redound to the advantage of Pakatan Harapan in its efforts to woo a reluctant Gabongan Parti Sarawak (GPS), the strongest in the state.

GPS, likeliest winner of the most parliamentary seats up for grabs in Sarawak, is disinclined to support the Anwar Ibrahim-led Harapan.

Opinion surveys predict that Harapan will garner the highest number of seats but will be without a simple majority.

That will require Harapan to woo GPS, expected to win anything from 18 to 24 seats out of a total of 31 in Sarawak, to join it in forming a federal government.

Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), largest component of GPS, is loath to affiliate with Harapan in a federal government that includes DAP.

This is because of what DAP chairperson Lim Guan Eng said in 2019, when he was Harapan’s finance minister, in the course of a warning about the imminence of bankruptcy for Sarawak under GPS’s stewardship.

That comment has stuck in GPS’s craw, particularly PBB’s.

Other components of GPS are not as reluctant as PBB to link up with Harapan...