Written by Mariam Mokhtar, Malaysia Chronicle
Sarawak’s Chief Minister, Taib Mahmud, is unlikely to retire after the state election for he has failed to identify a suitable successor and for three decades, has managed to cling onto power. Yesterday, he said that he was being pressured to quit by Pakatan Rakyat (PR) because he stood in their way of seizing Sarawak from BN rule.
The Sarawak chief minister, who came to power in 1981, had announced he would retire after the state’s election on April 16. However, his lack of a firm deadline drew criticism from PR lawmakers, who accused Taib of engineering an extension to his rule.
Taib has already pulled out all the stops and is using dirty tricks in an election that could not be considered clean nor fair.
Yesterday, after a brief tour of Kampung Tellian Tengah in Mukah, he announced RM2.5 million in allocations for various projects there and in Balingian.
It is not just Taib who resorts to underhand practices. Deputy Chief Minister George Chan, deceived villagers when he told them that he had obtained the land titles they have waited for decades to get.
Actually what Chan did was to give them a conditional letter, pending approval of the titles. He then told them that the final decision regarding the land, would be made AFTER the election. The hint was that they should vote BN.
Other tricks that have emerged in the past few days are just as deceitful.
There have been unsubstantiated reports that free foodstuffs have been distributed to the longhouses in the Ulu Baram area. However, upon closer inspection, the cans of milk and biscuits were found to be long past their expiry date. Perhaps, BN thought people in the longhouses were not that knowledgeable and could easily be tricked.
Money is being distributed to the longhouses by senior BN Ministers. Crates of beer have also made its way to these residents. Gerrymandering is being spotted on the part of the Election Commission and even the army has been caught brutally threatening villagers to vote BN.
It is also believed that all the longboats into the interior, have been block-booked during the Sarawak election campaigning period.
In addition to that, Taib has block booked all 27 helicopters which normally operate in Sarawak, Brunei and Sabah for the whole election period. This operation is believed to cost around RM2 million. Can the Election Comission be asked to look into this or will they again say that they are unsure what constitutes a lawful expenditure, or not?
In other incidents, mobile phones have received automated calls which ask, in mandarin, which party the mobile phone owner intends to vote for in the coming Sarawak election. There were clear instructions to “Press 1 for BN, 2 for Opposition or 3 if the person was undecided.”
One West Malaysian based Sarawakian warned how BN had attempted to steal the votes of people who were working in KL. They did this by pretending to offer them air-tickets so they can return home, to vote. However, this was only a ruse to steal their ID details. They requested the full name and IC number. Once given, they informed that the pick-up was only from airport to airport.
Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim has been followed by the police since he arrived in Sarawak a week ago. He has been frequently interrupted during his speeches. Prime Minister Najib Razak is busy helping Taib by intensifying a sex video conspiracy against him in a bid to defelct attention from what is happening in Sarawak.
A DAP ceramah attended by Lim Guan Eng and Lim Kit Siang was also invaded by policemen and stopped.
On Sunday, Steven Ng, a known NGO was barred from entering Sarawak.
Taib is well-known for abusing his authority over immigration controls. He will attempt to throw out anyone who might help the opposition during the election campaign. Taib has no idea what the word “democracy” means. He is afraid to lose and will cheat where possible. It would be interesting to see if he does not evict PR politicians and leading figures from Sarawak.
Taib knows that if he cannot win by fair means, he will have to resort to cheating. - Malaysia Chronicle
Sarawak’s Chief Minister, Taib Mahmud, is unlikely to retire after the state election for he has failed to identify a suitable successor and for three decades, has managed to cling onto power. Yesterday, he said that he was being pressured to quit by Pakatan Rakyat (PR) because he stood in their way of seizing Sarawak from BN rule.The Sarawak chief minister, who came to power in 1981, had announced he would retire after the state’s election on April 16. However, his lack of a firm deadline drew criticism from PR lawmakers, who accused Taib of engineering an extension to his rule.
Taib has already pulled out all the stops and is using dirty tricks in an election that could not be considered clean nor fair.
Yesterday, after a brief tour of Kampung Tellian Tengah in Mukah, he announced RM2.5 million in allocations for various projects there and in Balingian.
It is not just Taib who resorts to underhand practices. Deputy Chief Minister George Chan, deceived villagers when he told them that he had obtained the land titles they have waited for decades to get.
Actually what Chan did was to give them a conditional letter, pending approval of the titles. He then told them that the final decision regarding the land, would be made AFTER the election. The hint was that they should vote BN.
Other tricks that have emerged in the past few days are just as deceitful.
There have been unsubstantiated reports that free foodstuffs have been distributed to the longhouses in the Ulu Baram area. However, upon closer inspection, the cans of milk and biscuits were found to be long past their expiry date. Perhaps, BN thought people in the longhouses were not that knowledgeable and could easily be tricked.
Money is being distributed to the longhouses by senior BN Ministers. Crates of beer have also made its way to these residents. Gerrymandering is being spotted on the part of the Election Commission and even the army has been caught brutally threatening villagers to vote BN.
It is also believed that all the longboats into the interior, have been block-booked during the Sarawak election campaigning period.
In addition to that, Taib has block booked all 27 helicopters which normally operate in Sarawak, Brunei and Sabah for the whole election period. This operation is believed to cost around RM2 million. Can the Election Comission be asked to look into this or will they again say that they are unsure what constitutes a lawful expenditure, or not?
In other incidents, mobile phones have received automated calls which ask, in mandarin, which party the mobile phone owner intends to vote for in the coming Sarawak election. There were clear instructions to “Press 1 for BN, 2 for Opposition or 3 if the person was undecided.”
One West Malaysian based Sarawakian warned how BN had attempted to steal the votes of people who were working in KL. They did this by pretending to offer them air-tickets so they can return home, to vote. However, this was only a ruse to steal their ID details. They requested the full name and IC number. Once given, they informed that the pick-up was only from airport to airport.
Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim has been followed by the police since he arrived in Sarawak a week ago. He has been frequently interrupted during his speeches. Prime Minister Najib Razak is busy helping Taib by intensifying a sex video conspiracy against him in a bid to defelct attention from what is happening in Sarawak.
A DAP ceramah attended by Lim Guan Eng and Lim Kit Siang was also invaded by policemen and stopped.
On Sunday, Steven Ng, a known NGO was barred from entering Sarawak.
Taib is well-known for abusing his authority over immigration controls. He will attempt to throw out anyone who might help the opposition during the election campaign. Taib has no idea what the word “democracy” means. He is afraid to lose and will cheat where possible. It would be interesting to see if he does not evict PR politicians and leading figures from Sarawak.
Taib knows that if he cannot win by fair means, he will have to resort to cheating. - Malaysia Chronicle
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