‘Don’t abandon BN because you don’t like me’

By FMT Staff
BALINGIAN: In his home constituency here, Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud urged his constituents not to abandon the Barisan Nasional just because they disliked him.
“I am not saying that I am the best leader. I am an ordinary human being.
“But if I was not good to the state, people and party, do you think I would have remained the CM until now?” he asked, referring to rumours of widespread dissatisfaction over his administration of the state and family encashment of Sarawak’s natural wealth.
Citing an old Malay adage which mirrored the English saying “don’t cut your nose to spite your face”, he said if need be, he would play politics to “safeguard and defend BN”.
“Whether I contest or not in the coming state election is not the issue.
“But I am prepared to play politics to defend and safeguard the BN government, which is good,” he said, touching on sentiments which he has brought to the fore since BN lost its seat in last month’s Sibu by-election.
The shocking defeat stunned the Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) which had fielded candidate Robert Lau, but more importantly, it also reinforced growing views that the opposition was making inroads into Sarawak.
While SUPP has openly accepted DAP as a legitimate and lethal threat to its political longevity, other BN component parties have remained silent over the infiltration into the state by peninsular-based opposition parties under the Pakatan Sarawak banner.
Promises of development
Last week in, Sibu Taib said he was confident that Bumiputera would continue to support the government because "they are humble”.
“They (Bumiputera) know they are poor and in difficulty. So they place high hopes on the government to help them out," he said.
His admission that the Bumiputeras were poor was the first in political history.
Sarawak has an abundance of natural resources and is considered the richest state, yet 40 years on, it has the poorest population.
Taib and his team have made many pledges of projects and developments but delivery has been poor.
Launching the Bederun festival over the weekend, his promise of development was a reminder of earlier pledges.
This time, Taib told residents in Balingian that he had big plans for the small district, leaving them with the impression that the big plans included well-paying jobs for the locals by 2030.