Sarawak Speaker accepts Taib’s resignation

Incoming CM Adenan Satem will be deciding whether or not to have a by-election in Balingian constituency.

UPDATED

KUCHING:  Chief Minister Taib Mahmud has resigned as assemblyman for Balingian.

This was confirmed today by  Sarawak State Legislative Assembly Speaker Mohamad Asfia Awang Nasar during a press coneference.

Asfia said the letter was dated Feb 26 and is effective from tomorrow.

Balingian, which is in the Mukah parliamentary constituency, is now officially poised for a by-election.

Speaking at a short press conference here today, Asfia said he would write to the Election Commission officially informing them about Taib’s resignation from the Balingian seat.

“It will be up to the EC to decide on the polling and nomination dates,” he said.

But Taib, who has held the seat since 2001 after moving from Asajay which he represented since 1981,  told newsmen yesterday that it was upto incoming CM Adenan Satem to decide if a by-election will be held.

“I will not interfere,” he said.

Taib will also step down from his post as CM tomorrow after helming Sarawak for 33 years. He is the country’s longest serving chief minister.

He is to assume the post of Sarawak’s seventh governor. Under the state’s constitution, the Yang Di Pertua Negri is not allowed to hold any office.

This means that he will also have to resign from his post as president of Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), Umno’s equivalent in Sarawak.

EC to meet on Mar 6

Meanwhile, the Election Commission (EC) is to convene a special meeting on March 6 to discuss the Balingian state seat to be vacated by Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud tomorrow.

The meeting, scheduled to begin at 10 am at the EC headquarters in Putrajaya, would be chaired by EC chairman Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof, said EC secretary Abdul Ghani Salleh.

A news conference would be held after the meeting, he said in a statement.

Abdul Ghani said the EC was notified officially yesterday by the speaker of the Sarawak legislative assembly that the Balingian seat would be vacated by Abdul Taib tomorrow.