Sarawak insiders say state government officials and the Najib administration believe the departure of the longest-serving chief minister will deflate opposition momentum in the east Malaysian state, which is almost as big as the entire Malay peninsula.
Taib has not indicated the date for the polls but coyly said today, “Wait one more day,” when asked by reporters.
He is due to join Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in several events tomorrow, among which is said to be his bombshell announcement of stepping down and also the dissolution of the state legislature.
The Malaysian Insider has learnt that the 71-seat state legislature could be dissolved as early as next Monday, with nomination day and polling day likely in April, three months before Taib’s mandate ends on July 23.
The white-haired Taib has attracted much criticism over his unwillingness to step down or nurture successors. In addition, he has been hit by waves of accusations of corruption and nepotism, with anti-graft body Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) joining the call in asking the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to investigate the allegations.
Some in BN feel that Taib should not contest the polls but others feel that only the strongman will be able to hold the coalition together and deliver the timber-rich state to the ruling federal coalition, which considers Sarawak and Sabah as its “fixed-deposit” vote bank.
As a compromise, Taib is said to have agreed to contest the polls but step down as CM after that. His successors could be either his deputy in Parti Pesaka Bumiputera (PBB) Datuk Amar Abang Johari Abang Openg or party vice-president Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Awang Ali Hassan.
Abang Johari’s name has cropped up over the years and Taib first named him as a possible successor in 1992.
Speculation that the polls could be held next month reached a feverish pitch this week when Taib had an audience with state governor Tun Abang Muhammad Salahuddin Abang Barieng before chairing the state Cabinet meeting.
The last state election was held in 2006 where BN won 62 seats, DAP six, PKR one, SNAP one and independent one.
The DAP and PKR formed Pakatan Rakyat (PR) together with PAS after Election 2008 and will contest the Sarawak election together with SNAP, although the four parties have yet to conclude talks on distribution of seats.
Sources within PR say the pact hopes to deny BN a two-thirds majority but BN is confident of maintaining a similar number of seats it won in 2006.
“We should maintain our majority although we could lose a few more seats,” a state BN source told The Malaysian Insider.
He said the state BN has been affected by the Alkitab row in the Christian-majority state apart from allegations of corruption against Taib and his family.
The Alkitab row came about after the federal government impounded 30,000 Malay-language bibles in Kuching port recently, apart from some 5,000 impounded in Port Klang two years ago. Putrajaya finally relented to releasing the holy books this week but the importers have refused to collect the Bibles due to conditions placed by the Home Ministry.
Sarawak has asked for the Bibles to be released after news broke out that the Home Ministry had impounded the Kuching consignment.
But it’s the graft allegations that have hurt Taib most, with the international spotlight over the past few months especially from London where an independent radio station, Radio Free Sarawak, began broadcasting.
Writing recently in British daily The Independent, former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown had expressed support for his sister-in-law Clare Rewcastle-Brown’s media campaign against what she deems exploitation of Sarawak’s people and forests by Taib.
The former British PM had described the deforestation of Sarawak as “probably the biggest environmental crime of our times”.
Environmental watchdog Wetlands International also reported last month that Sarawak’s rapid expansion of oil palm plantations may result in its unique peat forests being wiped out by the end of the decade.
Brown’s sister-in-law, who is also behind the Sarawak Report website, has been highly critical of Taib’s 30-year-old administration, accusing it of widespread corruption and illegal political practices.
She began operations of the two media outlets behind a veil last year before choosing to reveal herself ahead of the Sarawak elections. - Malaysian Insider
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