Najib’s biggest hurdles after Sarawak

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak must face the reality of Chinese support in the country.

The two biggest questions for Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak after the Sarawak election are how to expedite the departure of Chief Minister Taib Mahmud and how to arrest the decline in Chinese support.

The fact is the Barisan Nasional (BN) cannot govern alone.

It needs the support of the Chinese communities. The Chinese control the economy.

The Chinese control most of the urban areas. And also because this country needs to operate less on ethnic grounds than it does on practical matters.

Even before the Sarawak election Najib, who must have been urged along by his advisers and some politicians, was demanding that Taib moves on.

Taib has been at the helm of Sarawk for 30 years. Allegations abound over his involvement in corruption, nepotism and in his generally kleptocratic government.

These allegations have remained, by and large, undefended.

One can always say that what he does and did to Sarawak are nothing less than what other politicians did and do in the peninsula.

Still that doesn’t excuse Taib from doing what he is doing. Further wrongs do not make right.

In any case, why should Taib retire?

Rumours awash

His candidates have won all the 35 seats his PBB contested.

SUPP, and the others didn’t. SNAP which was hastily resurrected, some say, with aid of BN parties did not win at all.

And Balingian independent candidate Salleh Jaffaradin is a mystery.

In Kuala Lumpur, everyone knows that he is a man of straw. Salleh was supposed to have been included in the Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) line-up, probably as an insurance candidate to eventually replace Taib as the titular chief minister.

Rumours are awash in KL that Salleh got some millions to contest in Sarawak.

On nomination day, Salleh’s name was nowhere to be seen on the PBB list. Taib must have sensed or knew that something was cooking.

Salleh’s name was ditched. So what to do with the money? Salleh contested as a candidate.

He must have known as an independent candidate against Taib, he stood no chance.

The fact there were suggestions that some unseen political hands were supporting Salleh, helped Taib to remove a minor threat, to his continued rule, which if he hadn’t recognised, would have turned into a big headache.

Taib knew that maybe Kuala Lumpur was behind Salleh.

Rushed swearing-in

Perhaps this was the reason Taib rushed his swearing in as CM. He was fearful that some extraordinary means would be employed to replace him as CM.

Now you tell me! Will a person who rushed his own swearing in as CM, indicating that he wants to stay put, go off in two to three years?

The problem now stays with the BN chairman Najib.

He has promised the people of Sarawak that Taib will go off soon. On the contrary, Taib is sending signals that he plans to stay put for as long as he wants to.

He leaves on his terms and conditions, not on BN’s or Umno’s or the PM’s.

The writer is a former Umno state rep and an FMT columnist.