Suara Sarawak

All eyes on PBB new faces

With nomination and polling dates fixed for the Sarawak election, speculation now centres on the candidates, especially new faces.

Of special interest is the possible line-up of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), the backbone of the state BN.
Chief Minister and PBB president Abdul Taib Mahmud has said that about a quarter of the candidates for the 35 seats allocated to the party would be new.
Party sources said that 10 to 12 new faces were likely be fielded, most of them in constituencies which PBB won with a small majority in the last state election.
“New and possibly young candidates would enable the party to repeat the clean sweep that it achieved in the 2006 state election,” according to a PBB source who did not want to be identified.
Several young leaders, most of them with a professional background, has been mentioned, including Universiti Darul Iman lecturer and blogger Mohammad Hailmi Sajili, cardiologist at Serdang Hospital Dr Annuar Rapee, Kedup branch information chief and lawyer Bernard Phillip, who is the son of former minister Martin Ben, civil servant Alex Ganyan and educationist Joseph Tiam.
Other possible candidates named included Mukah Resident Saudi Narani, Sarawak Common Facilities managing director Abang Jemat Abang Bujang, Telang Usan PBB Youth chief Dennis Ngau, the chief minister’s former political secretary Robertson Mawa and current political secretaries Tengku Geruna and Robert Laing Anyie.
The party is also said to be considering people with religious credentials, including Sarawak mufti Kipli Yassin. Among the other possible candidates are teacher and music composer Patrik Khamis and PBB Demak Jaya deputy chief Dr Hazlan Hipni.
There is also talk that MP Wahab Dollah and a prominent bumiputra corporate figure are being considered as candidates.
Situation very volatile, incumbents not sure
However, a party insider said the situation was very volatile, and many incumbents were not sure they would be retained.
Semop assemblyman and state assembly speaker Mohamad Asfia Awang Nassar Asfia has had to refute speculation that he is among PBB incumbents to be dropped.
While many incumbents wait anxiously to see whether they will be renominated, several others have stated their intention to give way to new faces.
Among those planning to bow out are former assistant tourism minister Hamden Ahmad (Belawai), former assistant minister in the chief minister’s office Bolhassan Di (Beting Maro), six-term Sadong Jaya assemblyman Wan Abdul Wahab Wan Sanusi, four-term Demak Laut representative and assistant industrial development minister Abang Abdul Rauf Abang Zen, former assistant rural development minister Ambrose Belikau Enturan (Katibas) and Saribas incumbent Wahbi Junaidi.
Others include six-term Kedup assemblyman Frederick Bayoi Manggie and Lihan Jok who has served Telang Usan for two terms.
Political analysts expect most of the new faces to be middle-aged and drawn from the professions.
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak senior lecturer Jeniri Amir expects balance in the line-up in terms of age and career background. He is also sure the contenders will include women candidates.
PBB fielded seven new faces in the last state election. This time round, it is certain to have more first-timers.
“They really want to rejuvenate the party to enable the new team to move forward and transform Sarawak,” Jeniri said.
The 71-seat assembly which was dissolved on Monday had 63 representatives from BN – with PBB contributing 35, Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) 11, Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) nine, and the Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) eight.
The DAP held six seats while PKR and Parti Cinta Malaysia had one representative each.
- Bernama

Sarawak election: Doomsday for the SUPP?

Kuek Ser Kuang Keng

With the 10th Sarawak state election set for April 16, time is ticking for Supp, the second largest party in the state’s ruling coalition, to fight for its survival in probably the toughest election since its formation in 1959.
In the 2006 state election, the Chinese-dominated party suffered its worst electoral hammering, losing eight of 19 seats it contested.
The casualties included two assistant ministers and a mayor. The May 20 polling day was described as one of the darkest days of its 46-year history by its president George Chan then.
(Engkilili assemblyperson Johnichal Rayong who contested on a Snap ticket jumped to SUPP after the state election, allowing the latter to control 12 seats.)
Despite pledges to reform itself, infighting involving all top leaders in the party erupted soon after the polls, with Chan held responsible for the party’s defeat, triggering demands for him to hand over the presidency.
Although Chan (right) and his incumbent leadership managed to persuade the aspirants to withdraw their candidacy and reach a no-contest consensus in the 2008 party election, skirmishes among the party leaders continue even till today.
“The split in SUPP continues to exist because it involves vested interests among the different factions in the party. It cannot be patched up easily,” said Miri-based researcher and author Chan Eng Seng.
He pointed out that SUPP’s infighting was reflected in the recentcontroversies over the choice of candidates in certain seats including Padungan, Meradong and Dudong.
Seats to watchout for
Of the eight seats SUPP lost in last state election, seven are Chinese-majority constituencies.
Meanwhile, among the 11 seats won by SUPP, seven have more than 50 percent Chinese voters. SUPP grabbed three of them with less than 600 majority – Pelawan, Dudong and Repok.
Palawan, in the heart of Sibu, with the electorate being about 90 percent Chinese, has been showing a strong leaning towards the opposition since 2006.
BN took the seat in last state election with a wafer-thin majority of 263 votes but DAP secured a majority of 3,132 parliamentary votes from this state seat in the 2008 general election, followed by some 5,600-vote majority in the May 2010 Sibu by-election.
Dudong falls under the Lanang parliamentary constituency, which is also within the Sibu area, while Repok, located at the centre of Sarikei, is a Chinese town predominated by the Foochow clan.
The three seats are the primary targets of the DAP, which aims to capture a total of 12 state seats.
Although SUPP secured comfortable majorities in the remaining four Chinese-majority areas – Batu Kawah, Bawang Assan, Piasau and Pujut – the idea of voters springing a surprise on April 16 cannot be ruled out.
“The possibility is there. History has shown that (former SUPP president and deputy chief minister) Wong Soon Kai could be defeated twice by DAP candidates. It is hard to say that SUPP senior leaders are safe in their current constituencies,” said Chan.
The SUPP strongman suffered a shock defeat at the hands of DAP’s Ling Soe Ming in his Sibu stronghold in the 1982 general election, followed by another fall in the 1996 state election, losing the Bukit Assek seat to Sarawak DAP chief Wong Ho Leng (left).
Chan warned that the opposition’s mega rallies before polling day in Penang and Sibu, during the 2008 general election and in the Sibu by-election respectively, had swung the voters significantly, and this could happen again.

The voting trend in one of the SUPP strongholds, Bawang Assan, a Chinese-majority urban seat held by the party’s deputy secretary-general and Sarawak second finance minister Wong Soon Koh, showed that Chan’s warning should not be ignored.

Wong retained the seat with a comfortable majority of 2,504 in 2006 state election, but the parliamentary majority dropped to 1,458 and 866 in the 2008 general election and Sibu by-election respectively.

Retaining incumbents raises more fear

The recent decision by SUPP’s central working committee to retain all 12 incumbents in the coming polls has heightened concern among observers, seeing it as breaking the party pledge to rejuvenate itself with new blood.
One of the major reasons for SUPP’s appalling defeat in 2006 state polls was the unattractive image the younger generation have of its ageing central committee members, who average 63 years, and are mirrored in the party’s line-up of candidates.
“Many of the incumbents are in their fifth or sixth terms. The sad thing about SUPP is that it is lacks dynamic, middle-aged leaders.
“If the incumbents are not retained, there are also no successors. They did not groom their successors,” said Chan.
The oldest party in Sarawak started as a multi-ethnic left-wing opposition party, enjoying extensive grassroot support in the 1960s.

However, upon joining the BN in 1973, it started losing its socialist character, together with popular support.

But the advantage of being part of the ruling coalition is that it is still not too late for SUPP to turn the situation around, if long-serving Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud and Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak are ready to compromise more in terms of policies to diffuse the anger of the Chinese voters.

SUPP has also claimed that it would adopt new campaigning strategy and unleash a secret weapon to equal the so-calledrough campaigning approach of the DAP. It is unclear whether this can save SUPP from a major defeat.

‘No chance of unseating Taib’

Chief Minister Taib Mahmud is urging rural Sarawak to rally behind the BN in the upcoming polls because Pakatan Rakyat is 'already in disarray'.

KUCHING: Both DAP and Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud seem oddly enough to share a common view that the Pakatan Rakyat coalition has no chance of forming the next Sarawak government.
According to Taib, the opposition was in disarray and squabbling over seats.
“Pakatan and PKR are already in disarray and fighting among themselves now for seats.
“What type of government can they promise the people?” he said while urging the people in Marudi to rally behind the Barisan Nasional (BN) during the 10th state election.
He said the opposition was only good for talk and had yet to prove itself.
“The opposition can only talk and suggest this and that. The thing is it has not proven itself, unlike the present government,” Taib said, adding that he cannot blindly meet all the people’s demands just to be popular.
He said the state was “very prudent” and “strict”.
“We are prudent and strict with our administration… without giving in too much to the people’s demands,” he said.
Meanwhile, state DAP chairman Wong Ho Leng conceded yesterday that wresting Petrajaya was almost impossible.
“As of now, the chance is zero,” he said.
According to DAP, talks with PKR had broken down after the latter refused to budge from its demand that DAP cut back on its seats.
Wong, who is Bukit Assek assemblyman, said the party had finalised its list of 18 candidates and would disclose the name on April 6.
“The candidates will know on April 4 when (party secretary-general) Lim Guan Eng hands over the letter in Sibu,” he said.
On whether all incumbents will be retained, Wong said some incumbents’ seats may be switched to make way for new blood.
He said the selection of candidates took into consideration the parliamentary elections.
He said as far as possible DAP did not want to be drawn into three-cornered fights.
“We hope to avoid three-cornered contests but we have no control over it,” he said.

Rundingan kerusi pilihanraya:PKR Sarawak tiada mandat

KUCHING, 25 Mac (Bernama) — Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Sarawak berkata ia tidak mempunyi mandat untuk menyelesaikan kebuntuan berhubung rundingan peruntukan kerusi dalam kalangan parti pembangkang untuk menghadapi pilihan raya negeri pada 16 April.

Bagaimanapun, Ketua PKR Sarawak Baru Bian berkata kegagalan rundingan antara parti itu dengan DAP berhubung kerusi Batu Kawa, Dudong serta Piasau dan dengan Parti Kebangsaan Sarawak (SNAP) tentang beberapa kerusi majoriti kaum Dayak, dijangka dapat diselesaikan akhir bulan ini.

“Kami tak diberi mandat berhubung peruntukan kerusi, jadi kami kena rujuk kepada para pemimpin kami di peringkat kebangsaan, termasuk Timbalan Presiden Azmin Ali, yang dijangka membuat keputusan mengenainya menjelang 29 Mac,” katanya kepada pemberita di sini.

PKR, yang kini hanya menyandang kerusi Padungan, bertelagah dengan DAP setelah gagal mencapai kata sepakat mengenai pembahagian kerusi untuk ditandingi pada rundingan di Kuala Lumpur semalam.

Bian berkata PKR, yang berhasrat bertanding di 52 kawasan, juga belum memuktamadkan rundingannya mengenai pembahagian kerusi dengan SNAP, yang menyuarakan niatnya untuk bertanding di 40 kawasan majoriti kaum Dayak.

Pada sidang akhbar terdahulu, Pengerusi DAP Sarawak Wong Ho Leng berkata parti itu bersedia menyerahkan kerusi majoriti kaum Cina — Padungan dan Senadin — kepada PKR walaupun mempunyai cerah untuk menang di situ.

Bagaimanapun, kata beliau parti itu yang akan bertanding di 18 kawasan, tidak bersedia menyerahkan kawasan Batu Kawa, Dudong dan Piasau kepada PKR.

Lapan belas kawasan yang akan ditandingi DAP ialah Padungan, Pending, Batu Lintang, Batu Kawa, Kota Sentosa, Simanggang, Balai Ringin, Bukit Assek, Pelawan, Dudong, Bawang Assan, Repok, Meradong, Kidurong, Senadin, Piasau, Pujut dan Bukit Kota.

Sambil menyifatkan tindakan PKR menuntut untuk bertanding di tiga kawasan majoriti kaum Cina itu sebagai “sikap abang terhadap parti pembangkang terkuat di Sarawak yang tidak boleh diterima”, Wong bekata pertandingan tiga penjuru tidak elok bagi pakatan DAP-PKR-PAS.

Ditanya sama ada pakatan pembangkang mampu menubuhkan kerajaan negeri akan datang, beliau berkata sekarang peluang itu tidak kelihatan, melainkan wujud satu entiti yang boleh bekerjasama untuk membentuk kerajaan.

DAP, yang memenangi enam kerusi pada pilihan raya negeri 2006, bertelagah mengenai kerusi Balai Ringin dengan SNAP, yang hanya memenangi satu kerusi melalui calon Bebas pada pilihan raya itu. – BERNAMA

TAIB STEALS HIS ELECTRICITY – EXCLUSIVE EXPOSE!

Taib's residence in Demak Jaya - his sister and son Abu Bekir have houses next dooAt a time when people are struggling to cope with the rising electricity costs, Sarawak Report has established that the Chief Minister thieves electricity to keep down his own bills This astonishing information came to us from senior insiders, who are in a good position to know what is happening in Taib’s household.  We have subsequently obtained corroborative evidence from the chief technician in charge of maintenance at his grand residence at Demak Jaya.

At a time when people are struggling to cope with the rising electricity costs, Sarawak Report has established that the Chief Minister thieves electricity to keep down his own bills !

This astonishing information came to us from senior insiders, who are in a good position to know what is happening in Taib’s household.  We have subsequently obtained corroborative evidence from the chief technician in charge of maintenance at his grand residence at Demak Jaya.


What we have learnt is that the Chief Minister has deliberately installed a secret, subterranian electricity cable, which by-passes the meter outside his house.  The cable links the mains directly to the line entering the house.  This means that while some of the supply still travels through the meter at least half of it does not, thereby slashing Taib’s electricity bill! 

How mean is greed?  

Huge residence, means huge electricity bills!

Given the legendary wealth of Taib Mahmud, the idea that he should go to these lengths to avoid such a relatively small outlay as the monthly electricity bill seems staggering.  

But, as Taib has pointed out himself, he is not used to paying out money or even bothering to have it on his person.  All his family deals are funded by others in return for his political patronage.  Since the Taibs expect to take, not give, it must make regular bills like the rest of us pay seem something of an outrageous imposition!

However, we should bear in mind that Taib has already compensated for the annoyance of having to pay for electricity.  There was plenty of comment some years back when the State Parliament voted through a handsome annual allowance to assist in the Chief Minister’s electricity bills, presumably on the understanding that he has to do so much entertaining in his huge house.  

By contrast, Sarawak Report is mindful of the many people throughout Sarawak who suffer from the harsh policy of the State-owned Sesco electricity monopoly, which is to ruthlessly cut off those people who cannot afford to pay the escalating costs being charged.

Far from free electricty! The poor communities of Sungai Asap often face electricity cuts

The policy is particularly galling for those displaced families who were moved into ‘resettlement’ areas to make way for hydro-electric dams.  Part of the incentive that people from both Batang Ai and Bakun dam areas were given to move was that they would get free electricity as part of their compensation.  However, both communities are now being asked to pay the full price for their electricity and many are regularly cut off by Sesco, because they can’t afford it.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sesco, coincidentally, just happens to be Taib’s own superbly wealthy cousin, Hamid Sepawi.  The son of the Deputy Chief Minister, Alfred Jabu, is also on the Board.  Sepawi and the Jabus have been given so many jobs and concessions by the Chief Minister that there is certainly no need  for them to worry about such basic bills.  And, while he is stern to his poorest customers, Sepawi is clearly lenient to his wealthy relative, since the fraud that his cousin indulges in is fairly easy to detect !

What the technical manager confirmed

Too grand to pay his full electricity bill?

In order to confirm the almost unbelievable information we had received about such petty pilfering, we thought we should seek corroboration from the man who was reportedly in charge of installing the by-pass system. 

This was the head technician in charge of Taib’s estate at Demak Jaya, Jong Ka Chin.  We were told that Jong had also helped out Taib’s sister next door, Raziah Mahmud, who had heard about the device and wanted one too!  Raziah is also fabulously rich, but clearly does not see why she should pay the same bills as everyone else.

So we decided that it was time to request if he could do a similar favour for Taib’s older son Abu Bekir.  After all Abu Bekir has just settled his wife’s divorce claim of RM 400 million, so he must be looking for ways to save some money!  We called the technical head, Jong Ka Chin, on his personal mobile in the guise of Abu Bekir’s secretary to ask him to come and discuss the matter with the Datuk:

“I am calling from the office of Abu Bekir ..it is about the electricity bypass that he wants to instal for his house tomorrow …

Yes, yes …

You can do it right?

Yes, yes … I know

You know what it is right?

At Demak Jaya …[location of Chief Minister's house]

Ah … can you come to the office at Titanium Management tomorrow?

What time? What time?

10:30am … you know where it is right?

10:30am yeah, Datuk wants to see me?

Yes, yes, Datuk Seri wants to see you …It’s about the electricity cable bypass system … to be installed in his house …

The house at Demak?

Datuk Seri wants to instal the electricity bypass cable system in his house. The same one done in Pehin Sri’s house.

I am at the house here, now …

Which house?

Demak, Demak….Tomorrow I go to the office or to Demak?

Go to his office first; meet with Datuk Sri first at his office at Titanium Management.

Ah  …ok

He wants you to advise him on the electricity cable bypass system … you know what it is right?

Yes

The same one that was done at the house of Pehin Sri …

Yes, the same.

The same as the one you had done before?

Yes … so tomorrow I go to the office to see you …

Ah  … go to the Titanium Management office to meet Datuk Seri ..ok, thank you. God night.

Yes, yes, good night.

From this call it was clear that Mr Jong was actually working on site at Demark Jaya at the time we were calling and he acknowledged several times that he had fitted an electricity by-pass system for the Pehin Sri’s (Taib’s) house. 

When we put the story past a senior Sesco operative about the scam.  His observation was “so you know about that do you?!”  Sesco has recently been criticised for hiring a swathe of highly-paid foreign managers.  The new Norwegian Chief Executive Officer, Torstein Dale Sjotveit, is paid RM 4 million per annum and receives 10 return air tickets home on top each year.  Under him are 20 other foreign engineers, who are also paid way over the normal Sarawak salary levels. 

One of those for me too please! - Taib's sister Raziah Mahmud put one next door as well.

YB Chong from Kuching DAP recently also complained to parliament about the huge charges being demanded from customes for the installing of obligatory new meters. 

Customers are being asked to pay RM 650 for the fixing of the so-called up-dated meters and people who can’t pay the extra on their bills are being cut off! 

However, the even more damning complaint against Sesco by the majority of the people of Sarawak is that in Malaysia’s richest state 80% of the people of the interior have yet to be connected to any form of electricity at all!

On behalf of Mr Jong, Sarawak Report confirms that when we rang back to gain further details of his work on the by-pass he told us that he had since spoken to Abu Bekir’s office and ascertained that Taib’s son is not in actually in Kuching or wanting work done.  He then also denied that he had installed a by-pass after all.   Perhaps Taib Mahmud would like to clarify the situation and confirm or deny the very well-sourced information that we have received?

Cyber-war casualty

As an addendum to this article we wish to express our concern over the sacking yesterday of a well-regarded staff member at the Borneo Post.  The firing was carried out in accordance with a directive that had come straight from the officer of the Chief Minister  The reason, we have learnt, was that the staff member, who is a proof-reader, had made an understandable error that was seen to have undermined the Chief Minister’s belated attempts to get ahead in what BN are describing as the ‘Cyber-war’.

The Borneo Post had devised an article designed to promote one of the Chief Minister’s dozens of new sponsored websites.  Its name is almost identical to the name of this website, Sarawak Report, however it contains an extra letter!  The poor proof reader read the copy and assumed that a mistake had been made and altered the naming of the website to the far better-knownwww.sarawakreport.org, which is of course this website’s address!

As a result the carefully placed Borneo Post article ended up promoting us, instead of promoting the Chief Minister’s new ‘cyber-weapon’, which exploits our name!  This clearly did not go down well!

We wish to say, however, that we deplore such treatment of a loyal employee, who like most of us, relies on his salary.  Why should a professional be fired for failing to be sufficiently quick-footed at such dirty tricks that the Chief Minister has been attempting to play?  It is surely high time that Sarawak caught up with the rest of the world with rules to protect people with fair employment rules, so that high-handed dictators like Taib do not think they can just fire decent ordinary people like this in moments of anger and bad behaviour. 

Don’t forget you can’t sack everybody, Taib Mahmud….. but they can sack you in just 3 weeks time!