Taib loyalists are again confiding in Sarawak Report over details of alleged plans to seize control of politics in Sarawak, in order to topple the Chief Minister after the coming federal election.
Their revelations prove that Sarawak BN is a coalition in crisis, turned in and fighting with itself, as its leaders struggle to gain the key position in control of the ‘rich resources’ of the State that Najib Razak recently referred to.
That position is the one that has been occupied by Taib Mahmud for the past 30 years and which is now said to be coveted by his Second Minister for Planning, Awang Tengah.
“To swap Taib Mahmud for Awang Tengah is like leaving the tiger for the crocodile” explained one key source, who says the reason that the whistleblowers have chosen to come to Sarawak Report is that no Sarawak newspaper would dare publish a story about disloyalty in BN.
However, the in-fighting reflects a similar struggle at the party’s federal level, where the PM’s deputy, Muhyiddin bin Yassin, is widely reported as being at the head of a plot to seize control himself the moment the election is out of the way.
The plan to control the federal BN candidates?
The loyalists to Taib say that disenchanted plot members have revealed full details of what is going on.
They are fearful they have not a moment to lose to alert their leader, whom they say is being primed to appoint a BN candidate list for the federal election that is packed with secret Tengah supporters.
Earlier revelations in this blog have already detailed the names of existing supporters of Tengah in the Dun Assembly, highlighting the Speaker Mohd Asfia Awang Nassar.
Tengah is said to have promised Nassar the coveted job of Governor if he gets to be Chief Minister.
In this second stage of the plot, Tengah and his inner circle are said to have been working covertly to win over key officials, who will be recommending nominations to Taib and Najib for the candidate list
A number of Federal MPs are also said to have been won over to the movement already. These will be supported by the officials, but those who are regarded as Taib loyalists will be undermined by poor reports about their performance. Rivals who are pledged to Tengah will be written up as popular and effective members of their constituencies.
The inner circle who are running this alleged conspiracy are named as being Subuyau State Assemblyman, Julaihi Narawi; Taib’s Political Secretary, Abdullah Saidol; Tengah’s favoured candidate for Batang Lupar, Awang Jamuddin Awang Kon; the Executive Secretary of PBB, Awang Bujang Awang Antek; Tengah’s preferred candidate for Sibuti, Pandi Suhaili and Radin Kadri, who has been rounding up a militant ‘Youth Wing’ of the party, financed by Tengah.
This group meets regularly either at the Sarawak Golf Club or at Tengah’s plush new mansion, which was financed by the rewards of his position as Second Planning Minister.
An inside source from Tengah’s camp has further informed that the Chief Political Secretary, Abdullah Saidol meets up with Taib’s Senior Private Secretary, Mustapa Han everyday in the CM’s office to liaise on the progress of the plan. Han has also been named as a key Taib insider, who has allegedly been won over to the plotters group.
“This is the first time in Chief Minister’s era that the Chief Political Secretary and Senior Private Secretary have met up everyday which has never been done by the previous predecessors” [Taib supporter]
The list!
The whistleblowers have even supplied Sarawak Report with a full detailed list of Tengah loyalists and the BN constituencies in which they hope to be able to secure nominations as Federal candidates.
The list (below) shows how most of BN’s Dayak seats are now being fought over by these ferocious rival camps within the same party.
The disgruntled PRS leader, the ‘Land Snatch Minister’ James Masing, is said to have firmly moved into the Tengah camp. The other BN coalition parties, SUPP and SPDP are also riven with rivalries.
The financing of this campaign of disloyalty is allegedly being carried out through Tengah’s own trusted brother, Awang Damit.
Since no one does anything except for money in the corrupted culture of BN, Tengah appears to be operating on the basis of using the immense money and power that his position as Planning Minister has provided with him to undermine his once trusting boss the Chief Minister himself.
“Money is readily available for Tengah PBB candidates to move in their parliament constituencies. Tengah uses Damit to ensure that approved land is being sold to the highest bidder. The tactic being used is kept away from the Chief Minister. Tengah abuses his position to his own advantage, even though the Chief Minister empowers him to do so” [Taib loyalist source]
The candidate list that has been leaked by people still close to the plotters reveals the full extent of the danger to the Chief Minister:
Central role of Taib’s once trusted officials
Tengah and Asfia’s control of certain of Taib’s top officials has given the plotters power over much of the nomination process for candidates, our sources further allege.
Sarawak Report has also been handed a second list of key Sarawak civil servants, who are being used to provide positive reports on Tengah’s preferred candidates, while talking down a number of incumbent MPs and rivals.
Taib and Najib will be relying on such reports to choose BN’s candidates over the coming few days before the election.
One of the main players is said to be the Department of Social Development Sarawak (KEMAS) Director, Abang Rabaee Abang Muhi. KEMAS is the source of numerous government funded projects, which can be used to buy local community support for BN political figures.
Even more corruptly funds are often awarded to projects without any noticeable outcome. This provides an opportunity to distribute public money to buy support and pay off followers.
The whistle-blowers claim that Tengah and his allies have gone out of their way to keep their man Rabaee in this influential position until after the federal election:
“It is a fact that KEMAS Sarawak director Abang Rabaee Abang Muhi was supposed to be transferred to Sabah, but the Chief Political Secretary to CM, Abdullah Saidol wrote a letter to Director General of KEMAS in Putrajaya, without CM’s knowledge, saying that CM wanted Abang Rabaee to be retained until after the 13th General Election” [BN source]
The same sources also say that Rabaee has been handsomely rewarded for his support to the plotters by Tengah’s ally Sebuyau State Assemblymen, Julaihi Narawi with an oil palm plantation licence in Sebayau. Other beneficiaries of this licence were two other Sebayau officials, Jemat Chee and Othman Jamil.
Sarawak Report seeks denial of this allegation and also confirmation that no native land has been taken by the Sebayau State Assemblyman to reward BN cronies and plotters in his own constituency.
Key officials who will be writing reports to the BN hierarchy and Taib about suitable and popular local candidates are said to be among this list. They are Abang Daud Abang Jolkipli; Hasli Drahman; Khusairi Salleh and Dayang Norlida Abang Ahmad all from the Department of Rural Development.
Their secret job, allegedly, is to ensure that majority of the parliamentarians on the final candidates list will be submissive to Tengah without CM’s knowledge.
It is being further said that Tengah has instructed Abdullah Saidol to ensure that all KEMAS Sarawak officers in all 31 parliamentary seats provide him with their full reports first, before they go to the KEMAS Sarawak Director and then on to the Prime Minister and Chief Minister.
KEMAS is a key way through which BN’s abuses public funds to distribute ‘projects’ to get the party support at elections and by screening these reports Tengah apparently intends to promote his own supporters as having made the best use of it to obtain votes.
All Tengah’s supporters will receive very favourable reports, confirmed our source:
“all his candidates will receive very favorable report. They are given high marks and scores for being winnable candidate”
Secret meeting
The evidence that has been given to Sarawak Report also claims there was a recent secret meeting of Tengah’s supporters:
“On the 22nd February 2013, KEMAS Sarawak held a secret meeting at the Dewan Pustaka Negeri Sarawak (Sarawak State Library) to discuss how to promote and make propaganda showing Tengah as the “Pemimpin Berjiwa Rakyat”(People Orientated Leader). To make him to be seen as the next heir as Chief Minister of Sarawak to Federal and State leaders.”[Taib loyalist]
Meanwhile, fury and discord is growing among candidates and incumbents who feel they are being pushed aside by all this manoeuvring. For example, in Sebayau just this week, headquarter for the key Tengah ally YB Julaihi Narawi, the existing local MP Rohani Karim was not even invited to a BN function headed up by the Speaker Asfia to support the BN campaign for his Batang Lupar seat.
The purpose of the event was apparently to promote Tengah’s own candidate, Awang Jamuddin Awang Kon, who did attend. Taib loyalists complain that the speeches and reports from the event were loaded against the incumbent. Asfia was quoted in the Borneo Post saying:
“For this election, we want to win, and to win we must have a winnable candidate. ..Equally important is that the candidate must be able to work with the state assemblyman and have a common direction and vision to help the people and transform the area,”[Borneo Post]
Such remarks could only reflect on the absent Member of Parliament when representatives from all of the 34 Batang Lupar PBB branches were crowding the room. It made the talk about BN unity seem very hollow indeed!
Tengah’s political rivals fear that this is the master plan and that he is well on the way to outmanoeuvring his once trusting boss. His next job is to push aside Abang Zohari, who is believed to be Taib’s most senior Deputy for now and popular in KL.
For the different camps in BN the whole struggle is being treated as a fight to the death. It is the difference between vast wealth for the winners and exile for the losers.
But is it? What is in all this greedy scrapping amongst the BN dogs for the ordinary people of Sarawak? Where are the interests and rights of the people in the list of priorities for these fighting rivals?
While BN fight with each other it would seem high time that the people voted for somebody else. What’s more this time the rural people should work hard at each polling station to make sure that their votes are not stolen or altered by bought civil servants and election officials, who for years have been routinely corrupted by the greedy and ruthless politicians who have robbed the wealth of the people of Sarawak.
Counting agents and polling agents and election officials who cheat should feel the full wrath of the people and be photographed and reported in all cases.