Taib on Sarawak state-elections: Who is really in control?

Mariam Mokhtar, Malaysia Chronicle

On his return from the pilgrimage to Mecca, Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud told reporters at the Hornbill Skyways Hangar in Kuching that he had received an inspiration on when to call the next state elections.

The current term of the Sarawak legislative assembly expires in July next year but Taib appeared to be in no hurry to fix a firm date. He said, “I have the inspiration, but I won't tell you (the date)”.

Sarawak BN leaders support the move to hold state elections soon and many political observers believe that the polls could be held simultaneously with the next general election.

Taib who is also the chairman for the Sarawak Barisan Nasional (BN), said that the state elections could be held in any of the 12 months in the year and that it was a matter of preparing the election machinery.

One wonders though if that is the real reason for withholding from announcing the date for the state elections.

An ABC News report this January stated how politicians were no strangers to superstitious rituals. During Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, his chief strategist David Axelrod carried a pink quartz heart for good luck. Former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi consulted soothsayers and astrologers. Pakistan’s president Asif Ali Zardari is alleged to be slaughtering black goats every day since becoming President, in an attempt to ward off “the evil eye”.

Franklin Roosevelt believed that it was bad luck to light three cigarettes with one match and he shared the same fear of the number 13 with Napoleon. Hitler strongly believed in premonitions.

Closer to home, the Burmese junta relocated its government from the historic capital Rangoon to the new capital Naypidaw. The move could only start at precisely 6.37 a.m. on 6 November 2005 because that was the time recommended by an astrologer employed by general Than Shwe.

It is alleged that Tony Blair’s wife Cherie would present hair clippings to an alternative health guru, a one-time market gardener to see it was a good time or bad time to make major decisions. Another friend cum guru was Carole Caplin and her Australian boyfriend, the ‘conman’ Peter Foster, who was alleged to have wielded huge influence over the Blairs.

Most people think that superstitions are just for fun or laughs and a few consult their horoscopes before they step out of the house.

We entrust our politicians with the task of passing legislations and determining the fate of our country. Politicians are human too and getting them to reveal their superstitions and rituals is difficult.

But do we really want our heads of state to consult a bomoh for their every move? Aren’t they supposed to uphold the tenets of the religion?

One hopes that the decision on the date for the Sarawak state-election has nothing to do with secret bomohs, if Taib has one.