Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud will step down by the end of this month, after almost 33 years at the helm of the resource-rich state.
 
Sarawak BN secretary-general Stephen Rundi Utom said Taib had personally revealed this during the Sarawak BN leadership meeting in Petra Jaya today.
 
"He said at the end of the month. Can be any date," Stephen Rundi ( left ) told a press conference at the PBB headquarters in Kuching after the three-hour meeting which began at 10am.

Abdul Taib was absent at the press conference, but when approached after lunch the outgoing chief minister confirmed that he is likely to leave by the end of February.

"I think so (on leaving his post at the end of the month)... I can get full salary for February," he quipped.

Asked whether he will be naming his successor tomorrow, Taib denied this.

"No, I got to talk to the governor first," he said.

Taib did not reveal when he will meet the governor, but confirmed that he will hand in his resignation once he sees the head of state.

PBB Wanita deputy chief Fatimah Abdullah who was present in the meeting today said Abdul Taib also did not reveal to the Sarawak BN leadership when he will be meeting up with the governor.

"He didn't say whether it's tomorrow, tonight or this evening," she told journalists this when approached after the meeting.

 
Taib is expected to name his successor only after meeting the governor.
 
The three possible successors that have been named are PBB deputy president Abang Johari Openg ( left ), PBB senior vice president Awang Tengah Ali Hasan and PBB information chief Adenan Satem.
 
Abang Johari when approached about his possible ascent to the chief ministership, declined to weigh in.

 

"It is premature for me to comment," he said.

The meeting today was largely a courtesy to the Sarawak BN partners and elected representatives as news of Abdul Taib's impending departure was already revealed at the PBB supreme council meeting yesterday at the same venue.

Stephen Rundi said party leaders had taken the opportunity to thank Abdul Taib for his services, and several leaders were seen hugging the 77-year-old political veteran after the meeting.

SUPP on verge of de-registration

Also raised at the meeting was the looming de-registration of the Sarawak United Peoples' Party (SUPP), said former SUPP deputy secretary-general Wong Soon Koh.

"The chief minister advised SUPP to resolve the matter internally before it is too late," he told journalists.

Wong had initially contested against SUPP president Peter Chin Fah Kui ( left ) for the top post in 2011, but later withdrew and filed a complaint with the Registrar of Societies (ROS) over alleged irregularities.

The complaint led the ROS to serve SUPP with a show cause letter over why it should not be de-registered.

Wong appeared pessimistic that the party will survive de-registration and added that he was prepared to support a new party if the 55-year-SUPP is de-registered.

The Sarawak BN coalition is comprised of PBB, Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), SUPP, and Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP).

Sarawak-based Borneo Post reported that Chin had met Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi about merging with SPDP in a last-ditch attempt to save the party from de-registration.

Chin has since denied this, although the denial did not seem to have convinced SUPP deputy president Richard Riot.

"I hope it is not true, or else I will be very disappointed because as deputy president, I was not informed," he said.