Anwar tellsTaib: Don't cling on like Mubarak

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has likened Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud to Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak - clinging to power, despite calls to step down.

"You want another 30 more years to rule Sarawak? That cannot be," he said of Taib at the PKR Stampin branch Chinese New Year open house today.

Both Mubarak and Taib have been in power for the last 30 years.

Millions of Egyptians are now staging protests nationwide demanding that Mubarak step down immediately.

"The people in Sarawak should also be demanding Taib step down, but they should do it only through the democratic process, " Anwar, who is also PKR de facto leader, said to cheers from those at the open house.

He said changes could be brought about if Taib was no longer the chief minister and Pakatan Rakyat formed the next state government.

"We will bring the prices of oil down, prices of essential goods down if we come to power in Sarawak," he added.

"It appears that his (Taib's) wealth his gone up, but the income and the standard of living of the ordinary people have gone down.

"If you want the prices of oil and essential goods to go down, the top leaders must go down," he said.

Anwar, who is on a two-day visit to Sarawak, said it was not true that states ruled by Pakatan were not doing well as alleged by BN leaders.

"When Penang was under the Barisan Nasional, it was incurring a RM2 billion deficit. Within two years of Pakatan rule, Penang now has a RM2 billion surplus," he added.

One reason for the huge surplus, he said, was the people's confidence in the honesty and clean government of Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

Don't be rabbits, advice

Meanwhile, Sarawak PKR chief Baru Bian (left) warned the people to be wary of the carrots dangled before them in the coming state election.

"The Barisan Nasional is good at dangling carrots, now that this year, according to the Chinese zodiac, is the Year of the Rabbit. You know the rabbit likes to eat carrots.

"Incidentally, we will be holding the state election soon. And that is the time when the Barisan Nasional will be dangling the carrots. So, we should not be like rabbits grabbing the juicy, beautiful and appetising carrot dangled by the Barisan Nasional," he said

Baru said BN would come up with all sorts of promises to dupe the people into supporting them in the election.

He said for 30 years, Taib Mahmud had been chief minister and it was time for a change.

"Our theme for the coming election is 'Barubah lah' (Go for change) and so, let us all together change the chief minister and the Barisan Nasional government," he said.

He hoped that the theme would help change the people's mindsets into supporting the Pakatan.

Baru stressed the opposition coalition election manifesto would focus on returning the rights of their people to their lands and equal opportunity for winning government contracts and tenders.

"We have observed throughout Sarawak that the talking points of the ordinary people are losing their customary rights land and other types of lands," he said.

"Pakatan is the hope of the people in solving their land problems," he added.

Sarawak will hold its state election in the next few months.

- Malaysiakini