KUCHING: Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) will not force its elected representatives to step down and make way for younger candidates in the coming general election.

Its president Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg said the party had a culture where incumbents would step down voluntarily to make way for new candidates.

He said there were indeed incumbents who had expressed their wish not to contest in the coming general election.

"PBB will announce the name of the incumbent who wants to step down when we know the date of the election," he told a press conference here today.

PBB, the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) lynchpin, has 13 MPs.

Armed with a magnificent victory in the last Sarawak 12th state election, Abang Johari, who is GPS chairman, previously said that it looked forward to a perfect score in its debut at the general election by winning all 31 parliamentary seats in the state.

-- BERNAMA