Taib Mahmud has been chief minister for 32 years
MIRI: Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud remains untouchable.
No amount of external pressure to dent his image will make him step down from the post he has been holding since 1981.
As long as Taib continues to deliver the seats for Barisan Nasional and strengthen the state and national financial coffers through investments, the longest-serving Chief Minister in the country is unshakable.
This is what a former high-ranking state cabinet minister told The Star Online.
He said the opposition and human rights activists could throw all sorts of accusations of corruption and abuse of power against Taib but these alone would not force him to quit.
"In the past, Taib has faced many opponents who tried to end his career as the Chief Minister of Sarawak.
"He has taken them on and survived.
"He had also faced severe internal struggles from very strong figureheads within the ruling government during the Ming Court incident and survived.
"Taib had delivered at every single state and parliamentary elections for the Barisan.
"He has a political track record unmatched by any other state government leader in the country in terms of being able to deliver the seats for the BN at the parliamentary level.
"It is an undeniable fact that BN at the national level owes it to Taib that the BN is still able to retain power at the federal level after the 12th and 13th general elections.
"As far as the economic world is concerned, Taib has managed to turn Sarawak into a preferred destination for many heavy industries.
"He is a very business-savvy leader, one who makes key decisions on business dealings with swift and precise judgement.
"Because of the prevailing political and business climate in the state and country, Taib is very much a leader who will decide his own destiny," said the long-time associate of Taib.
The Opposition, in particular the DAP, had continued to accuse Taib in the on-going Parliament sitting in Kuala Lumpur of irregularities in land transactions and other allegations of corrupt practices.
The MACC had also said that it is forming a special task force to probe allegations against Taib as alleged in the Global Witness videos.
When asked about the allegations, former deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr George Chan Hong Nam said the allegations thrown at Taib would not jeopardise investors' confidence in Sarawak.
Dr Chan, a former State Industrial Development Minister, said investors would always invest in Sarawak which provides a business-friendly climate in terms of political security, sound government policies, abundant human resources, social peace and stability and adequate raw materials.
"Sarawak has all these assets. Taib had over the years managed to put in place all these vital ingredients for the state.
"And of course, in every state and parliamentary elections, he had delivered the goods for the BN, so in the political sense, Taib had also proven his track-record.
"Under these circumstances, I think that no matter what the Opposition say about Taib, they will not be able to force him to step down," said Dr Chan who is a former president of the Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP).
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