Abdul Karim says PBB leaders all for him to continue as chief minister
BINTULU: Leaders of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) have always given support to Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud to continue as chief minister and never raised the issue of his retirement or forced him to step down.
Chief political secretary to the chief minister Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said Taib should be given the opportunity to be chief minister for another term because of his ability in designing and implementing the state’s development.
Abdul Karim, who is also a PBB supreme council member, said Taib was a politician willing to sacrifice his life for the welfare of the people.
“Pehin Sri (Taib) is like a jewel to the people of Sarawak and a leader who is very hard to find,” he said when asked to comment on Taib’s statement that he would retire after the state election at a function in Balingian recently.
Taib will celebrate his 30th anniversary as chief minister in May this year.
Asked about the various allegations brought up by the opposition and online media against Taib and state BN leaders, Abdul Karim said: “There is not much we can do (to solve the problem), just hope that those who are exposed to the Internet would not easily believe what is written.
“This is not the democracy that we should practise and teach the younger generation.”
Even so, he said he was confident that most of the people in the state would support BN in the coming state election.
Regarding the attacks on BN leaders, especially Taib, he said it was a common thing every time an election approached.
“Before, every five years we used to deal with poison pen letters, but now we have to encounter attacks through blogs in the Internet,” he said.
The Asajaya assemblyman thus suggested that the government introduce laws to curb incitement in the Internet and that Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) should be more proactive in combating activities that could jeopardise peace and harmony in the society.
“The cyber law in our country is not enough to prevent inflammatory activities on the Internet. There is not much we can do right now,” he said.