Sarawak govt highly corrupt, says US diplomat

by uppercaise

US embassy political section chief in 2006

WIKILEAKS | #CABLEGATE #06KUALALUMPUR1935

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Comments from the DAP politicians and Suhakam reinforce what we have heard from other Sarawak state leaders and national politicians. By these accounts, the Sarawak state government remains highly corrupt and firmly in the hands of its chief minister. The $82 million state assembly building now under construction serves as perhaps the most obvious and extreme example of the self-enrichment of the state’s chief minister and other senior government officials. Through a combination of financial and political patronage, media ownership and control, and a seemingly unfocused opposition party, no serious challenge exists to the governing coalition’s longstanding grip on political power in the state.
Mark D Clark
political counsellor, US embassy
cable to State Department
13 October 2006

Sarawak’s state assembly building hogs the skyline in some parts of Kuching. It is many times the size of Fort Margharita and the Astana, home of the White Rajahs, situated further along the river bank. In this photo of the old part of town, the assembly building looms dominatingly in view from across the Kuching river. Its shape is said to resemble the headgear of the Melanau people. The chief minister, Taib Mahmud, is Melanau.