Sarawak election on April 9?

Pundits say Taib will dissolve the state assembly early next week.

KUCHING: Speculation is rife that the Sarawak legislative assembly will be dissolved next week and the state election held on April 9.
Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud called on Head of State Abang Muhammad Salahuddin yesterday, just before a meeting of the state cabinet where, according to sources, he told his ministers to get prepared for the election.

According to a former minister who knows Taib well, “something big” usually happens after the Chief Minister calls on the Head of State and then holds a cabinet meeting.

Both the prime minister and his deputy are visiting Kuching and other parts of Sarawak this weekend, and the former minister said he expected Taib to announce the dissolution of the state assembly during the visit or immediately after the two have left for Kuala Lumpur.

Several pundits believe the announcement will be made on Monday or Tuesday. They expect the election date to be April 9 because nine is Taib’s favourite number.

Sources in Barisan Nasional say the only issue going against the ruling coalition was the recent seizure of Malay bibles at Kuching port.

“There are no other major issues to stop BN from going to the polls for another electoral victory,” said a source.

BN holds 62 of the 71 seats in the state assembly.Thirty-four of those belong to Taib’s Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB), the backbone of Sarawak BN. Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) has 12, Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) eight and Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) eight.

Of the opposition seats, DAP has seven, PKR one and Parti Cinta Malaysia one.

Taib’s leadership is the main campaign issue in the urban centres. In the rural areas, the biggest issue is native customary rights (NCR) land. Opposition parties have accused BN of grabbing large swathes of NCR land and leasing them to big companies for oil palm cultivation.

“The rural areas, especially in the 29 Dayak-majority constituencies, will be the battleground,” President James Masing said recently.

It appears that BN parties have been gaining the upper hand in those areas in recent weeks, and pundits attribute this advantage to the bickering between PKR and SNAP, especially over their shares of seats to contest in the election.

“They are fighting and killing themselves first before they fight the real enemies,” said a veteran politician.

“Unless they resolve the overlapping claims, they can forget about forming a formidable opposition, not to mention forming the next state government,” he said.

PKR insists on 52 seats, while SNAP wants 40.

Of the opposition parties, only DAP could score big this time around, the veteran predicted.

Meanwhile, BN figures have dismissed talk of Taib stepping down after the election. Both PBB Deputy President Abang Johari and Minister of Public Utilities Awang Tengah said the opposition invented the rumour. - FMT