KUALA LUMPUR, April 16 — Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud was sworn in as Sarawak chief minister for a seventh term tonight, an hour after it was announced that Barisan Nasional (BN) had retained its two-thirds majority.
Taib has helmed the East Malaysian state for 30 years but recently pledged to step down after this state election following pressure from the BN leadership. His insistence on going for another term became campaign fodder for Pakatan Rakyat (PR) which more than doubled its presence in the state assembly.
It is understood that the ruling coalition views Taib, unpopular with Sarawak’s Chinese voters, as a liability and is eager to put the Sarawak BN chairman out to pasture.
But Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, when asked earlier about Taib’s quit plans, would only say that the promise will be fulfilled when the time comes.
When the results were tallied, BN won 55 seats, seven less than in 2006. Its share of the popular vote also went down from 62.93 per cent in 2006 to 55.24 per cent this year.
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