PARTI Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) Supreme Council meeting today could potentially mark a watershed development in the political history of Sarawak with rumours buzzing that Pehin Sri Taib Mahmud will make an important announcement regarding his chief ministership at the meeting.
The Barisan Nasional Supreme Council meeting to be convened tomorrow and the scheduled visit of Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to the state capital the following day lend credence to such speculation.
If Taib were to announce his retirement today, it would be a decision made on his own accord and according to his plans.
It is inconceivable that a chief minister who has remained in office for 33 years, could be dictated to on his course of action, especially now with dream of turning Sarawak into a high-income industrialised state taking shape, notwithstanding the fierce resistance from environmentalists – both local and foreign – and the constant criticisms from the opposition.
Such is Taib’s stature and political stamina that even at almost 78 now, he can still hold his own against internal and external pressures exerted to hasten his retirement. He will go when he thinks it is time for him to go, not when he is told to.
However, Taib would not be what he is today if he had allowed age to cloud his vision to develop Sarawak and his readiness to acknowledge that new ideas are needed for the state to keep pace with changing times.
He had, in recent past, talked about the need for younger leaders to take over and continue his plans for the state, stressing that he would not choose his successor but would leave it to PBB to decide who among its leaders would take over his mantle.
However, it cannot be denied that his preference would be the deciding factor in the choice of his successor.
Ironically, after having weathered so many storms in his long political career, the biggest challenge he has to face is finding a suitable successor because his shoes are too big to fill by any of the potential candidates.
The front runners obviously will come from the top echelon of the party but none of them would seem singly able to command the same measure of control as Taib has in preserving the multi-ethnic coalition that has run the state for so many years.
This is understandable as a transitional period is needed for things to run their natural course and fall into place.
It must also be remembered that whosoever PBB chooses to succeed Taib must also be accepted by the other state BN component parties.
The state’s body politic will never be the same again after Taib who himself is well aware of the challenges his successor would face.
In recent years, he has groomed a group of leaders to assume the reins of government rather than anointing a single person for the job.
After all, if a single person cannot fill Taib’s shoes, then they have to be filled collectively by several persons.
It is likely that the key leaders from other state BN component parties will join hands with PBB in the administration and planning of the state after the Taib era.
An indication of who his successor would be was revealed by Taib when The Borneo Post interviewed him last year.
When asked if he had groomed anyone to take over from him, he said he had identified four leaders over the years but would let PBB and the state BN component parties choose one among them.
He stressed that his duty was to prepare leaders to take over from him but the final decision rested on members of PBB and other BN component parties.
Much water has flowed under the bridge since that interview and in politics, situations can change overnight but it is still safe to say that next Chief Minister is a toss-up among the top four PBB leaders whom he has identified.
If the speculations of Taib’s retirement were to be proven true today, then the PBB Supreme Council meeting would turn a new chapter of politics in the state.