Putrajaya likely to give Taib Mahmud a pass in cleansing drive – for now

Desmond Davidson Desmond Davidson Updated 5 years ago · Published on 21 Jun 2018 11:00AM · 7 Comments

Taib Mahmud at the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly in Kuching in May 2013. Taib and his family have been embroiled in corruption, bribery and embezzlement allegations during his 33 years as Sarawak chief minister. – AFP pic, June 21, 2018.

SARAWAK’S scandal-ridden governor Taib Mahmud is likely to enjoy temporary immunity from Pakatan Harapan’s corruption cleansing drive for as long as Putrajaya is preoccupied with more high-profile controversies, such as the 1Malaysia Development Bhd scandal, said analysts.

Taib and his family have been embroiled in allegations of corruption, bribery and embezzlement during his 33 years as chief minister of the state.

Environmentalists, civil society activists and opposition politicians say under Taib’s reign, nearly 90% of Sarawak’s native rainforests were logged.

Despite his modest income as a politician, Taib’s family is believed to have interests in more than 400 companies and properties in 25 countries.

When Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced immediate measures to reopen investigations into the 1MDB scandal, hopes ran high among Sarawakian activists that a similar purge of corrupt leaders would take place in the eastern states.

However, James Chin, director of the Asia Institute at the University of Tasmania, said that Taib should not have to worry about being targeted “in the short term” as Dr Mahathir focuses his efforts on building a strong case against former prime minister Najib Razak.

“PH’s plan is to reform key areas first. They want to clean up Najib’s mess first,” he said referring to Najib’s alleged role in the siphoning of millions of dollars in state funds through 1MDB.

Chin said the mounting national debt and review of several multi-billion ringgit contracts, like the East Coast Railway (ECRL) project, will also keep the new administration busy.

“Sarawak is, therefore, not a priority now.”

Despite retiring as chief minister in 2014, Taib and his family still hold considerable influence in resource-rich Sarawak.

Taib, who travels around in a Rolls Royce and private jet, has been under investigation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) since 2011 over allegations that he enriched his family by awarding them huge infrastructure contracts.

However, results of the MACC investigation have never been revealed.

A week after the May 9 polls, Sarawak PKR chief Baru Bian demanded that the outcome of the anti-graft agency’s probe be made public, saying that Sarawakians had a right to know the truth.

However, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) political analyst Jeniri Amir said it was unlikely that any revelations into Taib’s alleged corrupt activities would be made public in the near future.

But Jeniri warned that Putrajaya risks angering voters if it continues to put Taib’s alleged misdeeds on the back burner.

“The PH government should act now and walk the talk. This is the time for it to prove and fulfil its promises to the rakyat,” he said.

“There should be no exceptions to the law and nobody, not even Taib, is above it.

“It has to apply to everyone, otherwise, what difference is there between PH and BN?” said Jeniri.

Chin said that remaining silent on Taib’s many scandals would be detrimental to the ruling government.

“One key reason why Umno lost was their silence on the 1MDB affair when Najib was PM,” he said.

Chin said if the allegations against Taib were true, “then what Najib did to 1MDB is chicken feed compared with the alleged amounts siphoned out of Sarawak since 1981”.

“There is no way you can keep silent on allegations of this scale.” – June 21, 2018.

Sign up or sign in here to comment.

Comments

  • We will Vote out PH if they let Taib go..... Walk the talk !!
    We hear of Corruption every day but no one is being charged in court yet.

    Posted 5 years ago by King Hutan · Reply

    • Who else can we vote for if we reject both BN and PH??? Remember PBB, SUPP, PRS, PDP have all left BN to form a new Sarawak coalition but really they are all same den of thieves. PH is the only viable option for the past s*** from TAIB are ever to see the light of day.

      Posted 5 years ago by Chee H · Reply

    • I am not surprised if all the wrong doings are co related among most of the big guns in all the existing political parties. They are doing a check mate with each other and nothing will come out from their mouth of course. You're correct when you say " We hear of Corruption every day but no one is being charged in court yet."

      Posted 5 years ago by Mohd Feroz Sulaiman · Reply

  • Sarawakians must do your part too. How is it possible the same crooks win every election?

    Posted 5 years ago by Tanahair Ku · Reply

  • Sarawak parties that have left BN and created Parti Gabungan Sarawak (PBS), should form a Sarawak Independent Commission to investigate Taib Mahmud. Do this and Sarawakians will trust and vote you into power again. Before PBS can proceed with such a commission, talk to the PM first and the Agung to go ahead for such an investigation. Its a Sarawak matter and Sarawakians must do this and not wait for Putrajaya. Another issue at hand PBS must remember to do is to engage Putrajaya on the MA63.

    Posted 5 years ago by Cp4Ab0115m3n7 De Syurga · Reply

  • Guess too old to jail but the family in Sarawak and of course Canada are not - time to drain that gravy train!

    Posted 5 years ago by Bob Archie · Reply

  • Corruption is corruption. Where is the justice if we go after one crook and let go the other?

    Posted 5 years ago by Roger 5201 · Reply