Taib to quit as CM after Sarawak polls, say sources
By Jahabar Sadiq, The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, March 18 — Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud is likely to drop a bombshell this weekend that he will not be the Sarawak chief minister after the state elections, a move Barisan Nasional (BN) hopes will reduce anger against the veteran leader and allow the ruling coalition to easily win the polls.
Sarawak insiders say state government officials and the Najib administration believe the departure of the longest-serving chief minister will deflate opposition momentum in the east Malaysian state, which is almost as big as the entire Malay peninsula.
Taib has not indicated the date for the polls but coyly said today, “Wait one more day,” when asked by reporters.
He is due to join Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in several events tomorrow, among which is said to be his bombshell announcement of stepping down and also the dissolution of the state legislature.
The Malaysian Insider has learnt that the 71-seat state legislature could be dissolved as early as next Monday, with nomination day and polling day likely in April, three months before Taib’s mandate ends on July 23.
The white-haired Taib has attracted much criticism over his unwillingness to step down or nurture successors. In addition, he has been hit by waves of accusations of corruption and nepotism, with anti-graft body Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) joining the call in asking the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to investigate the allegations.
Some in BN feel that Taib should not contest the polls but others feel that only the strongman will be able to hold the coalition together and deliver the timber-rich state to the ruling federal coalition, which considers Sarawak and Sabah as its “fixed-deposit” vote bank.
As a compromise, Taib is said to have agreed to contest the polls but step down as CM after that. His successors could be either his deputy in Parti Pesaka Bumiputera (PBB) Datuk Amar Abang Johari Abang Openg or party vice-president Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Awang Ali Hassan.
Abang Johari’s name has cropped up over the years and Taib first named him as a possible successor in 1992.
Speculation that the polls could be held next month reached a feverish pitch this week when Taib had an audience with state governor Tun Abang Muhammad Salahuddin Abang Barieng before chairing the state Cabinet meeting.
The last state election was held in 2006 where BN won 62 seats, DAP six, PKR one, SNAP one and independent one.
The DAP and PKR formed Pakatan Rakyat (PR) together with PAS after Election 2008 and will contest the Sarawak election together with SNAP, although the four parties have yet to conclude talks on distribution of seats.
Sources within PR say the pact hopes to deny BN a two-thirds majority but BN is confident of maintaining a similar number of seats it won in 2006.
“We should maintain our majority although we could lose a few more seats,” a state BN source told The Malaysian Insider.
He said the state BN has been affected by the Alkitab row in the Christian-majority state apart from allegations of corruption against Taib and his family.
