The chief minister of more than three decades made the announcement at a 1Malaysia concert here last night. Also present was Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, who previously assured voters that Taib was on his way out.
In his brief speech, Taib, whose departure from politics had become a focal point in the ongoing campaign for the state election, said that he wanted to put in place a nexus of the old and young to provide a smooth transition of power to ensure stability.
“When I step down later, in a few years, I want to see your generation support those who will assume my power and build Sarawak so it will become truly developed and truly luxurious in the future,” the 79-year-old politician told some 2,000 supporters.
The repeated assurances of Taib’s exit clearly indicated that the Najib administration viewed the chief minister, accused of massive corruption and abuse of power, as a liability to its effort to maintain Sarawak as its “vote bank”.
However, the lack of a specific time-frame for the implementation of the promised transition and the fact that no successor had been named prompted the opposition to dismiss it as a gimmick.
Najib rules out abrupt transition
In his speech at the same event later, Najib once again did not state when Taib would relinquish the reins but promised that a change of guards was imminent.
He also rubbished the opposition’s demand for an immediate change, saying that an abrupt transition of power would cause political instability.
Pakatan Rakyat leaders in an apparent bid to drive a wedge between Putrajaya and Sarawak said the pledges coming from Najib was an encroachment into the state’s internal affairs.
Taib, however, dismissed the notion that tension was brewing.
“We are aware that in the federation we are in today, the understanding between Sarawak and the peninsula, between Sarawak and Sabah, should be maintained,” he added.
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