SIBU: Chief Minister Tan Sri Taib Mahmud says he will only retire at the right time when everything is in its “best” position.
Fielding questions from reporters after attending a meet-the-people session here yesterday, he however asked back by saying, “When are you going to retire? You tell me.”
Taib, who was visibly upset with the question posed by a Malaysiakini reporter, said: “This is not a reporter’s question.” The reporter from the online news portal had asked Taib on his retirement plan which he had said on April 16, 2011 that he would retire in two years’ time.
The reporter had also asked Taib on a statement by Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng at a DAP ceramah on Tuesday night that if Pakatan Rakyat took over Putrajaya from Barisan, the state would have a new chief minister as they would lead MACC to investigate him (Taib) for alleged corruption.
To this, Taib responded: “That means what? Very rebellious. Our win in the 2011 state elections was more than a two-thirds majority.”
Pressed further for more answers on the same subject, he said, “He (Lim) is going to remove me! That is the talk of a dictator.”
Earlier when speaking at the function, Taib advised voters not to rock the boat by going for the Opposition this elections.
“Stay with what is safe and reliable. Vote people who you know will serve you,” he said.
He said the lesson learned in the 2008 general election was a reminder that the people should not trust the words of the Opposition.
He said in that elections, the Opposition felt that they could take over Putrajaya by winning large number of seats in Sarawak. Taib said such talk was only their assumption, which later backfired, as proven in the 2011 state elections where the state Barisan won handsomely by more than two-thirds margin.
Also in the state elections, he said the Opposition promised the people this and that but the promises were never fulfilled.
In this general election, he said the people must show what they wanted of their wakil rakyat and what their chosen wakil rakyat could do for the development of their community.
Taib said the state government was a caring one, adding that the protest demonstrated by the people through their votes in the last state elections had been given due consideration with changes being made to accommodate the people’s wishes.
“In the state elections we know what the Chinese want. We did try to change and overcome them. (As an example) The problem of land is no more an issue as we have tackled it. With the change, now our land premium is the lowest in the country and 20 times lower than those in Penang,” he said.
The people’s voices he said were a guideline for the Government to come up with better policies and not the propaganda of the Opposi–tion which only aimed to run down the government. Even at the Federal level, the Government had four years ago listened to the wishes of the people when it looked into the problem faced by the Chinese education sector.
“All these show that the Barisan Government is open to changes and even willing to compromise on policies for the good of all. You should know that I have never bluffed and I have never made false promises,” he added.
One the state Barisan candidates line-up, he said they were not chosen anyhow but from among the people who had pledged to serve the community. On the two Barisan candidates in Sibu – Vincent Lau in Sibu and Datuk Tiong Thai King in Lanang – he said, the people should give their votes to Lau due to his good track record in his 23 years of voluntary work in social organisations.
On Tiong, he said the latter was undeniably a man of kind heart and generous in his contributions to the development of the town in his past four terms as a parliamentarian.
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