With the general elections looming, Chief Minister and state BN chairman Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud stressed that he has no say on the choice of candidates for the parliamentary seats in the state.

“I have no say in this matter, if it were the state election, I choose my candidates because the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak allows me. But, since he is going to lead the federal government, I leave it to him to decide the candidates for general elections,” he told the crowd at a Lunar New Year open house at the civic centre here yesterday.

His statement sent a clear message that he would not be drawn into the controversy on the choice of candidate for the Mas Gading parliamentary seat here.

The seat is allocated to Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party  (SPDP) by the state BN but the incumbent MP Datuk Dr Tiki Lafe  was sacked by the party which meant that he would not be nominated to defend the seat for the ruling coalition.

It is believed that Anthony Nogeh, the Sarawak Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority (Salcra) deputy general manager has been chosen by SPDP to replace Dr Tiki in the coming polls....

However, the three-term MP still hopes that the BN top leadership would re-nominate him for the polls and pledged to remain loyal to the Barisan.

He said he would continue working closely with Tasik Biru assemblyman Datuk Peter Nansian and Opar assemblyman Ranum Mina to ensure that the people in Mas Gading would not be left behind in the development of the country.

Tasik Biru and Opar state seats make up the Mas Gading parliamentary constituency.

Dr Tiki  also pledged his full support for Najib’s transformation programme as well as the politics of development of the chief minister.

The nearest Taib was drawn to the candidacy of the constituency was when he stressed that the candidate must be someone who could be trusted by the local community and urged the voters in Mas Gading to continue supporting BN no matter who the candidate was.

He said it was essential to provide undivided support to BN as the coalition would ensure the development of  Bidayuh majority areas of Bau, Lundu and Padawan.

Taib said that development projects worth nearly half a billion ringgit had been carried out and planned in the Bidayuh majority areas.

“This is a solid proof of the BN government commitment to develop the Bidayuh majority areas through their elected representatives over the years,” said Taib, who is also the Finance Minister.

He said the people in Bau and Lundu could anticipate more and bigger development projects in the coming years as the government was in the midst of including the two areas in the state tourism masterplan stretching from Kuching to Tanjong Datu.

Dr Tiki, Nansian and three other former SPDP leaders namely Bekenu assemblywoman Rosey Yunus, Marudi assemblyman Datuk Sylvester Entri and Batu Danau assemblyman Paulus Palu Gumbang were sacked by SPDP following the internal party dispute. - BORNEOPOST

MALAYSIA NEWS BORNEO GENERAL ELECTION CM TAIB NAJIB RAZAK