Taib The Man And The Legend

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There is no doubt that Abdul Taib Mahmud was an indelible mark in the Sarawak psyche.
To the locals, he was affectionately known as “Pak Uban”, which translates literally to “Uncle White Hair”. To the Chinese community, he was simply “Pek Moh”, or “White Hair”.
But for Sarawak, Taib was more than just his snowy crown.
There is no denying that he was a wily politician. After all, one does not hang on to power for 33 years and then move on to become the head of state without a measure of cunning.
Taib, who served as chief minister of Sarawak from 1981 to 2014, is best remembered for out-manoeuvring his uncle, Abdul Rahman Ya’kub, to remain in power.
When Taib took over from Rahman in March 1981 to become the state’s fourth chief minister, he also inherited a Cabinet filled with his uncle’s loyalists.
This posed a problem for Taib. Rahman, who had moved on to become the Yang di-Pertua Negeri, tried to keep a tight leash on the state government through his trusted followers in the Cabinet.
Taib eventually started to replace the governor’s men in his team with his own lieutenants, a move that brought displeasure on the part of Rahman.
In the September 1983 triennial general assembly of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), of which Taib was president, contest was barred for the posts of party president and one of the two deputies.
Regretting his decision to allow contest for the other deputy president’s post, Taib eventually decided to confine elections to only the lower level Supreme Council posts.
Fed up with his uncle’s constant interference, Taib began to replace Rahman’s loyalists in the Cabinet with his own men.
Soon, the differences between the two men became personal.
At an event attended by both in Bintulu in September 1983, Rahman criticised the federal government while Taib was in the midst of delivering his speech, and an embarrassed Taib walked out while Rahman was giving his address. This was taboo in the local culture.
Following the unpleasant incident, both wanted to resign their respective positions but were persuaded to stay on.
Nevertheless, the bad blood between the two had thickened.
Rahman’s faction in PBB tried to get Umno to set up shop in Sarawak but the proposal was shot down by then Umno deputy president Musa Hitam.
Secret deals were cut by both sides to undermine each other.
For instance, Taib obtained then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s agreement to keep Umno out of Sarawak for as long as the latter was prime minister, and he himself remained chief minister.
In the meantime, Rahman convinced the non-Muslim Dayak community that Taib’s government was marginalising them.
This led Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS), then headed by federal minister Leo Moggie, to shift its loyalty at the state level from Taib to Rahman while staying on in the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition at the federal level.
Personal attacks soon followed.
The crunch came on March 9, 1987. In a masterful display of political ingenuity, Taib staved off an attempt to unseat him and, in the process, wiped out Rahman’s influence in PBB and the state government.
On that day, four of Taib’s ministers and three deputy ministers resigned and, together with 20 assemblymen loyal to Rahman, met at the Ming Court on Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, to plot Taib’s downfall.
In the coup attempt, which became known as the “Ming Court Affair”, Leo Moggie, whose party PBDS had left Sarawak BN, held a meeting at his residence in Kuala Lumpur to plot Taib’s departure.
But the Sarawak United People’s Party and Sarawak National Party opted to back Taib.
Meanwhile, Mahathir declined to declare support for either side, telling Daniel Tajem, who represented Rahman’s side which eventually came to be known as the “Maju Group”, to keep the crisis in Sarawak.
On March 10, Taib held a Cabinet meeting in Kuching and later announced the dissolution of the state assembly.
This caught the Maju Group, which had expected Taib to step down, by surprise.
Rahman’s group formed a new party, Persatuan Rakyat Malaysia Sarawak, to contest the election.
Sarawak BN, led by Taib, won 28 of the 48 seats, giving him the majority he needed to stay on as chief minister.
While Taib easily won his seat, Sebandi, Rahman lost to PBB’s Wahab Dolah in Matu-Daro.
The election was followed by a purge of Rahman’s supporters at all levels, down to the community chiefs in the state.
That spelled the end of Rahman’s political career. - FMT
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.

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