Although the next State election is about three years away, talks of early election are already in the air and political pundits have come up with a number of theories to justify their predictions.
One theory has it that Taib was recently summoned by Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak who wanted to call for an early parliamentary election six months after he had been appointed Prime Minister. The reason given was that he wanted to have a new mandate for his government. And he wanted Taib also to call for the State election simultaneously with the parliamentary election.
Najib fears that if Sarawak chooses to have its solo election as it has been doing since the days of Taib’s uncle, it opens an opportunity for Menteri Besars of Selangor, Perak, Kedah and Kelantan and the Penang Chief Minister as well as other leaders of Pakatan Rakyat to bombard Sarawak with their rhetoric and aggressive campaigns. Surely many will succumb to this type of electioneering.
And if that happens, the possibility for Sarawak to become the sixth State of Pakatan Rakyat is there. But if the State and parliamentary elections are to be held at the same time, leaders of Pakatan Rakyat will have little time for Sarawak as they themselves will also be tied down in their respective parliamentary constituencies.
There is also another theory suggesting that Taib may call for an early election some time next year to enable his son Sulaiman to contest. He cannot wait for the full term of the Dewan in view of his age and health problems. Upon his electoral victory, Sulaiman is to be made a minister; any time he wants to step down his son is already there – a minister. So the hand over of power is therefore expected to be smooth.
According to political pundits, Taib is said to be fearful of the growing support for PKR especially among the Dayaks who are angry with his government’s policy over NCR land. The large number of people present at the gathering-cum-dinner in which Anwar Ibrahim was present in Sibu last week sent shivers down the spines of BN leaders especially Taib. Taib, they say, believes that the holding of early election is expected to pre-empt PKR from gaining further footholds in the predominantly Dayak constituencies.
Adding impetus to the possibility of early election is the recent approval of the RM900 million by the Dewan Undangan Negeri. When the amount was presented, no details were given. And this prompted Wong Ho Leng, the Opposition leader demanding the itemization of the projects and accused the government of trying to “camouflage” the details on which the money had been spent or would be spent.
Like the Opposition leader, we are also wondering: Why does the government refuse to give details? And what is it so secret about the RM900 million if you have nothing to hide? But your guess is as good as mine – the money is meant for “projects kilat”!
One theory has it that Taib was recently summoned by Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak who wanted to call for an early parliamentary election six months after he had been appointed Prime Minister. The reason given was that he wanted to have a new mandate for his government. And he wanted Taib also to call for the State election simultaneously with the parliamentary election.
Najib fears that if Sarawak chooses to have its solo election as it has been doing since the days of Taib’s uncle, it opens an opportunity for Menteri Besars of Selangor, Perak, Kedah and Kelantan and the Penang Chief Minister as well as other leaders of Pakatan Rakyat to bombard Sarawak with their rhetoric and aggressive campaigns. Surely many will succumb to this type of electioneering.
And if that happens, the possibility for Sarawak to become the sixth State of Pakatan Rakyat is there. But if the State and parliamentary elections are to be held at the same time, leaders of Pakatan Rakyat will have little time for Sarawak as they themselves will also be tied down in their respective parliamentary constituencies.
There is also another theory suggesting that Taib may call for an early election some time next year to enable his son Sulaiman to contest. He cannot wait for the full term of the Dewan in view of his age and health problems. Upon his electoral victory, Sulaiman is to be made a minister; any time he wants to step down his son is already there – a minister. So the hand over of power is therefore expected to be smooth.
According to political pundits, Taib is said to be fearful of the growing support for PKR especially among the Dayaks who are angry with his government’s policy over NCR land. The large number of people present at the gathering-cum-dinner in which Anwar Ibrahim was present in Sibu last week sent shivers down the spines of BN leaders especially Taib. Taib, they say, believes that the holding of early election is expected to pre-empt PKR from gaining further footholds in the predominantly Dayak constituencies.
Adding impetus to the possibility of early election is the recent approval of the RM900 million by the Dewan Undangan Negeri. When the amount was presented, no details were given. And this prompted Wong Ho Leng, the Opposition leader demanding the itemization of the projects and accused the government of trying to “camouflage” the details on which the money had been spent or would be spent.
Like the Opposition leader, we are also wondering: Why does the government refuse to give details? And what is it so secret about the RM900 million if you have nothing to hide? But your guess is as good as mine – the money is meant for “projects kilat”!
8 comments:
Taib is consulting a few bomohs about when is the right time to hold elections.All seem to tell him that signs are not good and with PKR huge support,he knows that his days are numbered.
As for the RM900 million,it's only a gimmick to reassure the rakyat that this gov't is preaching the out dated politics of development,which in fact is the politics of bullshit.
With PKR gaining grounds in Sarawak,the leaders of all the component parties in sarawak are panicking.The latest addition to PKR is Gabriel Adit and there are still many who will follow him in the coming days.The time have indeed come for dayakism to take it's foothold.Dayaks have been suppressed and disunited for far too long.
So to all those who still think BN is their gods,wake up.Join PKR NOW.
In the Peninsular, it was the people and not the opposition leaders who led they way, so you yourself with all concerned Sarawakians should be doing the job by starting today and not tomorrow. They formed pressure groups, community groups, blog groups, website groups, informal reporter groups, area based groups, information sharing groups and financial groups and that way they made big changes by taking over the best 4 Malaysian States plus Kl which in total hold 65% of the nation's wealth. Don't wait for the peninsular politicians. You community based groups must cover all areas, must meet, discuss, strategise, counter attack, meet the people, inform them, call for debates, issue statements, reports, cards, info, etc and that way you can make change. Furthermore, don't concentrate on the Dayaks alone. It should be all Sarawakians and particularly every seat you can wrest. In the peninsular, that's what they did. Wish you well.
It is obvious the Dayaks are walking the talk. However, I wonder what the likes of Masing and Salang are still doing hanging around BN knowing they can't do anything to help their people. In what way are they beholden to Taib? Even if Taib steps down and hands over to his son the status quo will be maintained. Taib wants to start a dynasty of rulers and it is possible with his wealth. As such there will never be a Dayak CM. Surely those Dayak leaders in BN can see this?
I adopt a simple logic as to why so long as Taib's health is not open to question he will go on and on. He has seen what happened to many leaders who enriched themselves or abused their positions of power and thus created more enemies than friends within their own circles of palace officials, not outsiders, mind you,or all three reasons, were harrassed, charged and jailed until they perished or literally died.
What's the use of Sulaiman taking over when he is not even 1% smart compared with Dad? Taib is thinking about himself, cling to office until he dies and then of course let his son or relative who can be trusted by the family to take over. Your speculation has no basis also because of the present economic conditions: people have reasons to oust the corrupt, inept BN Government here in Sarawak, Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia.
Simple Logic
By adopting that that is staying in office until he dies, he will be helping Anwar Ibrahim's PKR, Lim Kiat Siang's DAP and Awang Hadi's PAS and other opposition parties to walk in and take over.It's a matter of time
My prediction? It's obvious the underlying problem is in Malaya. Propaganda and disinformation on both sides is thick, to the point that, one can say for certain, if 'regime change' does come, it will originate in Malaya. Sarawak and Sabah are just pariah states, whete the Borneo elite would stoop and do whatever is asked from them. These are just rubberstamp states, where Malaya is obsessed with trying to obtain a cultural foothold. A political process marked and set by the Malayan propaganda committee in the Tata Biro Negara. Otherwise, the smokescreen ongoing now is to tremble the UMNO mothership in Malaya.
Why else would Badawi initiate the change process so soon? Najib, when elected UMNO president, would be by default, PM of Malaysia. He'll have two or three years to clear the coffers before PKR/DAP/PAS smashes the Malayan BN in 2011/12. And that applies to the Sarawak BN. The only thing preoccupying the State BN is the Malayan result, not their fiefdom on Borneo. Sarawak is built shut from within, to withstand any Malayan intrusion. That is a fact proven again and again.
If and when a successor is identified for the post, He would likely be Muslim, and dare I say, possibly Melanau. Until all Sarawakians show their mettle and shift their preferences from one candidate to another, then we can all safely assume that Suleiman, is the last Charles Vyner of Sarawak.
The world and his mother knows that all the Iban, and all the Dayak are united under Taib. Period. They have been bought off, neutralised, substituted, degraded and diminished over the course of one generation. Culturally the Iban are weak, politically they are weak, economically they are weak. All the key points underpinning a resurgent Dayak interest is held by the powers that be. It will take another generation of Dayaks to assimilate the intrusion, temporize it and galvanise support amongst themselves, before complete change is reversed. If it can be reversed, is another thing altogether.
Would the answer lie in voting for PKR?
I mean, that's just history repeating isn't it? That harks back to the days of Kalong and Jugah tripping over themselves, running to take up UMNO's offer of money and riches.
An Iban A Dayak
If Adit can do it by gathering such great numbers of dayaks at the Sibu gathering, so can the rest of our dayak leaders. Who else dares to come forward and away from the clutches of BN to join the chariot with Adit? Many dayak leaders see themselves as beholden to Taib. This is one of their weaknesses. About time they see the plights of the dayaks first instead of their wallets. Voting BN also means voting to have more NCR lands, our bread and butter, be removed at the expense of our future children's generation. In time to come we dayaks will be landless! Just imagine what will become of us all.
To Anonymous,
If the Dayak were culturally and politically strong, they will stand up for their rights, decry at every single demonstration, march right up to Kuching and demand equality, and freedom from being discriminated, for far too much and for far too long. But even then, those demands will have to be proved.
You say we are not landless. Let me tell you something BOYO, since the 1980s, every single Iban politician, and his penghulus, right down to the tuai rumahs, knew that NCR policy, would be changed to the point that it would displace them all from their ancestral lands, beginning with those lands granted by the Rajah. Legally, what is NCR now??? It's not an enshrined right, it is a liberty continued by the State Government recognising the use of lands by those who traditionally exercised ownership of it.
What did most Iban do when their NCR lands were issued titles??? They went running to the Towkays, selling it for peanuts. EVERYBODY knows that. Wake up and SMELL THE COFFEE.
Culturally, and specific to the Iban, MENOA kitai, is our divine right to own our land, that's why the Gawai Kenyalang, that is why the Sampi exists. But do you think the generation of the 70s and 80s believed in that??? Especially those politicians now walking round with their begging bowls???
So, Brudder, NCR is not the issue. It is just an English Colonial Term, used to limit our ownership of our ancestral lands. That is why aki kelia menya subah went to kayau.
Now ask yourself this. Do the Iban have the MORAL FIBRE, and I mean every single Iban, from the oldest Temenggung to the aspiring student, do they have the MORAL FIBRE to do what is right, break down their divisions, and unite under a common cause???? Can the Iban tear down their apathy, bring down their internal rivalry, and display the MORAL COURAGE and undertake this EPIC journey??
Can you not see what the issue is? Adit is not going to make any difference, in fact he is not even breaking ground with his move to PKR. And what is PKR??? Just another Malayan party selling snake oil. Must the Dayak continue down this path, over and over again??
History is theirs to be made. Lack of Moral Fibre will prevent cowards from doing so. The lesson for the Iban now is, never elect a comedian or a confidence trickster as leader again. CAN THEY LEARN THAT???
An Iban A Dayak
The election is obviously around the corner. Both opposition and BN are threading on dayak as a rich ground for casting their net.
The dayak with their mindset which could only differentiate the label of BN and oppositions.
Even if a monkey stand as BN candidate, the dayak would surely vote for the monkey, because their mindset is focus on the BN lambang only.
The dayak are also being threatened with the so-called development, vote for opposition, no project or development will be given. The same trick really worked well among the dayak.
The next election, the dayak should cast their vote wisely not because of the lambang or being threatened with development.
It is high time for the dayak to look at our present dayak YBs contributions to their own constituencies.
For those dayak YBS who couldn't not look after the dayak welfare especially on NCR issue, then it is high for the dayak not to vote for them.
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