Not the time now to quit, says Taib

He is going to lead BN for the state polls, and then identify a successor and a new team that will take over when he decides to go.

PETALING JAYA: Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud today delivered a strong message to his detractors – he is not about to call it quits at any time soon.

He said that he will set the time for him to step down, and that will only take place after he had found and groomed a successor who will “deliver his dreams”.

His message was clear: he will lead the Barisan Nasional into the state general election expected next month and he will continue as chief minister after the polls.

“I will lead this election so that new blood can come up, but after that, when the people I have groomed can form a new team and can work for this country, for the people of various races, and that these people can work as part of a team, then I will call it a day,” he said at a launch of a people’s programme in Kota Samarahan, in Sarawak today.

He also announced that the state assembly will be dissolved on Monday, March 21.

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak was also present at the event, widely seen as a curtain raiser for the impending state polls.

Najib also appeared to back Taib’s retirement plan by saying that Taib should not be pressured to quit.

He added that the long-standing CM – 30 years at the end of this month – was ready to step down when the time was right and would pass the baton to his successor.

Taib has been under pressure from various quarters to step down following much publicised allegations of corruption. The CM and his family members have been accused of enriching themselves at the expense of Sarawakians.

DAP’s veteran leader Lim Kit Siang was the first to react to Taib’s intention to remain in power, calling it an elaborate political dance.

He said that there were many steps to be fulfilled before Taib decided to leave.

“He has to form a new team to run the state government and must ensure that the new team can work as part of a team,” he said in a statement.

This means Taib will have no qualms to continue as chief minister for instance (i) if he is not satisfied that he has got a “new team” that could work for the country or (ii) not assured that the new team could “work as part of a team”.

“This can take anything from one year to five years as he may have to keep trying a new team,” he added.

Lim noted that as there was no successor at present and with a new team yet to be formed and tested, Taib’s stepping down as the CM “is far into the distant horizon”.

“Clearly, Taib has to choreograph and act out the elaborate political dance of his preparedness to step down as CM to counter and neutralise the Sarawak Barisan Nasional’s Achilles’ heel in the impending Sarawak state general election – that he had overstayed as the chief minister,” he said.

Goodies from DPM, lashing for opposition

In another development, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin who is also in Sarawak warned Sarawakians to reject the “ghosts and demons” coming in large numbers from the peninsula for the state election.

He said that they could destruct the racial harmony and unity which are the cornerstone of political stability in the state and country.

“It is this stability that we need for the state and in fact the whole country to develop and progress further.

“We are already among the best developed countries in the world,” Muhyiddin said at a meet-the-people session at a 29-door Iban longhouse in Lingga.

He said the ghosts and demons would do their best to trick the people into supporting the opposition.

“Pakatan Rakyat or opposition pact is not real…they are a loose grouping with no real programme to help. What they have are only rhetoric and promises.

He said the federal government understood that Sarawak was a huge state which needed more development funds than some of the other states.

“We fully realise this. That is why we are helping and spending a lot more. Please allow us to continue to help, especially in bringing more and better infrastructure, in social development and in providing education,” he said.

He announced allocations of RM60.82 million for building Sekolah Menegah Kebangsaan Lingga, RM18.5 million for the 15km Stumbin/Tanjung-Bijat/Stirau Road, RM50 million to upgrade the Sembau-Stumbin Road, RM1 million for flood mitigation projects at five Malay villages and RM600,000 for several longhouses.

Muhyiddin also announced government development grants of RM580 for each of the 1,022 families from 51 longhouses in the area. - FMT