Turmoils and Triumphs: The Political Tapestry of Taib Mahmud’s Reign

The last weeks of Taib Mahmud’s life were not without controversy. There were reports that the former Chief Minister of Sarawak was abducted from hospital, and that his wife was entangled in a legal tussle with his sons over the transfer of some company shares worth over RM100 million.

Putting aside the recent controversies, however, Taib Mahmud will be remembered as an important architect of Sarawak’s economic development. As Chief Minister from 1981 to 2014 and Governor of Sarawak from 2014 to 2024, he laid the very foundation of Sarawak’s progress. To have stayed in power for 33 years was no easy feat; political observers have labelled him as a “strongman” who overcame early challenges to his leadership. In retrospect, however, his legacy is marked by credit and controversy.

Early in Taib’s reign, Rahman Ya’kub, the previous Chief Minister from 1970 to 1981, had wanted to undermine him. Rahman, who was Taib’s uncle, wanted to keep a tight leash on the state government to safeguard his interests. Dubbed the Ming Court Affair (after the eponymous hotel at which the challenge was staged in 1987), Rahman’s dissident state assemblymen deliberated to overthrow Taib. The planned coup was thwarted when Taib called for snap elections and won.

Taib strengthened his early power base by not placing local Sarawakian priorities above national interests, an important prerequisite during the formative years of the Federation in Malaysia.

Rahman and Taib are Melanau in the Bumiputera Malay-Melanau faction. The Malay-Melanau make up about 30 per cent of Sarawak’s total population, the Dayak about 45 per cent, and the Chinese about 24 per cent. Sarawak is ruled by a coalition of local parties consisting predominantly of ethnic Malay/ Melanau (Muslim Bumiputera), Dayak (non-Muslim Bumiputera) and Chinese in each coalition.

Taib strengthened his early power base by not placing local Sarawakian priorities above national interests, an important prerequisite during the formative years of the Federation in Malaysia. Before Rahman and Taib, Sarawak’s chief ministers were Dayak Christians. The Dayak chief ministers were “forcibly removed” because they overemphasised local over federal interests.

Taib successfully led Sarawak through seven state and eight parliamentary elections from 1981 to 2014. Taib not only strategically weakened Dayak representation by splitting their loyalties across the various local coalitions, he also turned Sarawak into a safe deposit state by winning parliamentary elections credibly. During Taib’s reign, Barisan Nasional at the federal level was growing increasingly weak (especially after 2008) and had to rely on Sarawak’s seats to stay in power. Taib’s ability to make Sarawak a safe deposit state and keep the opposition weak secured a promise from then Prime Minister Mahathir that the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) would not enter Sarawak.

Taib was firmly against race and religion pulling societies apart, especially in the context of Sarawak’s demographic composition. Even in his last year as Chief Minister in 2014, Taib reiterated that Sarawak must remain free from racial and religious politics. This has been upheld to today, where the Peninsular Malaysian brand of race and religion polemics does not plague Sarawak. Present-day Sarawak Premier Abang Johari has ensured that strong racial unity and religious tolerance will continue in Sarawak.

Taib’s rule, however, was not without controversies. There were allegations that Taib made deals with Sarawak’s Chinese tycoons to clear large swathes of forests for timber in the 1970s and 1980s in return for political support. Later, it was oil palm plantations from 1990 to 2009 that were used to broker deals. Allegations of massive cronyism, land grabs, and wealth accumulation have also been reported. Such allegations were never proven. Ironically, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has not been able to link cases of corruption to Taib. Reports of Taib’s wealth, his family, and his associates, continue to be circulated; the most recent report indicated a sum of more than RM1.8 billion (or US$379 million).

Launched in 2008, the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) was slammed by critics as one of Taib’s controversial projects. He sought to develop an energy-intensive industrial corridor by tapping into Sarawak’s renewable energy resources, under the vision of the Politics of Development for Sarawak. Energy was to be tapped from the Bakun Dam. Development of the dam was approved even before the four-part environmental impact assessment was completed. An area the size of Singapore with vast swathes of biodiversity was cleared in the process. Some 9,000 to 10,000 natives were also displaced. Sarawak today is however very different from the era when the Bakun Dam was built during Taib and Mahathir’s rule. Today, the Sarawak government treads very carefully to ensure that sustainability benchmarks are closely adhered to.

Opinions on Taib have varied from a strong dislike of his allegedly corrupt leanings to admiration for him as a strongman who laid a very good foundation for Sarawak’s political trajectory. Peninsular Malaysia, now under the Unity Government, continues to rely on Sarawak to stay in power. The durability and ability of the present Sarawak government to do so is in part due to the political foundation established by Taib Mahmud.

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