Bent on bringing Taib to justice ? - by : Pushparani Thilaganathan

Taib Mahmud may have won his Balingian seat but it would not save him from the opposition's relentless demand for him to step down immediately.
 
KUCHING: Movement of Change Sarawak (MoCS), which endorsed independent Salleh Jaffaradin’s challenge against Chief Minister Taib Mahmud in Balingian, said tonight that it will not let up on its quest to bring Taib to justice.

Said MoCS chief Francis Siah: “We are not going to give up. We will now aim for the general election and the parliamentary seat in Mukah.

“We were doing well until Thursday when they (BN) all came into the area.” Siah was alluding to rumours that Taib’s people had handed out cash and gifts to voters in the constituency late Thursday and Friday night.

Siah said Salleh was undaunted by the loss and was determined to contest the Mukah seat in the general election.

He also reminded Taib that he had until August to step down or MoCS “will do” the needful.

“We have already given him an ultimatum. He must step down by August or we will know what to do,” Siah told FMT.

Meanwhile, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said the opposition’s performance in the 10th Sarawak election was a “strong message” to Taib.

“He has to go and it has to be now… If he doesn’t go right now, then we will come after him again in the next state election,” said Lim.

Reduced majority

Long-serving Chief Minister Taib won Balingian with a 2,215-vote majority, far less that his  previous win in 2006. In the 2006 state election, Taib beat PKR’s Ibrahim Bayau with a comfortable 5,726-vote majority.

In this election, Taib was in a three-cornered fight with his cousin Salleh Jaffarudin who contested as an independent and PKR’s Suriati Abdullah, a businesswoman.

Salleh brought much personal insight into the contest which was already riddled with massive allegations against Taib for corruption and land grab policies.

While Salleh, whose political ties with Taib date back to the 1980s, brought “intimate details” to the campaign, Taib created a sensation when on nominational day a foreign bomoh was seen in the nomination centre.

According to reports, bomoh Stella is a relative of Robert Genied, Taib’s brother-in-law. Geneid is married to Taib’s sister Raziah. Geneid is said to be responsible for Taib’s second marriage to young Lebanese Ragat.

Raziah, who has extensive business interest in Sarawak, is rumoured to have been involved in deciding the BN candidate list for the 2011 polls based on how useful they would be to her.

She is also closely linked to Minister Awang Tengah Ali Hassan who is rumoured to succeed Taib.

Free Malaysia Today