Whilst the unprecedented mass turnout at opposition rallies in Sarawak is watched in fascination across Malaysia, every BN politician is watching in fear and every Malaysian citizen is watching in hope and solidarity.

NONE The impact of Sarawak's mass mobilisation is all the greater because its Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud, is Malaysia’s longest serving autocrat and never in the past 30 years of his rule has he had to defend himself so hard, with paid cybertroopers and YouTube videos.

Even then, Taib is seen to be fighting a losing battle and his reputation has suffered greatly.

The large-scale corruption of his rule, his destruction of a once-proud people and his complete disregard for the environment were all there for us to see. But for one reason or another, either because of fear or ignorance, we could not appreciate the scale of his crimes against the state or even do anything positive about them.

azlan It took Clare Rewcastle Brown and her website Sarawak Report as well as Peter John Jaban of Radio Free Sarawak to expose Taib and catalogue the evil of his ways.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak knows that the baying crowd is not easily satisfied. Taib’s excesses have been circulated on a global scale. So he does the next best thing to placate us. He didn’t quite offer us Taib’s head, but he gave us the only thing he knows will save Taib’s face for now.

He gave us an assurance that Taib would step down - but only after the election.

Najib said, “I have spoken to him. The chief minister had promised that there will be a succession. Believe me. When the time comes, it will happen. Don’t be rash and incited by the opposition.”

Don’t believe him!

For 54 years, Malaysians have been at the mercy of Umno/BN politicians and their empty promises.

No reason to wait

If Najib really means what he says, then there is no reason to wait. Taib should go now. Only then will we know that Najib and Taib really mean what they say.

Sarawakians know only too well Taib’s promises. He has ‘teased’ the rakyat in the past, only for him to laugh in their faces when he tricked them into thinking he would step down, but didn’t.

Why should we trust Najib? He was not elected premier. He refuses to have a healthy debate on the state of the country with Anwar Ibrahim. He tells the international community one thing, but does the opposite to his people.

At the UN general assembly, Najib said he was against extremism and yet, he failed to censure extremist acts in Malaysia. He promised the family of Teoh Beng Hock that he would “leave no stone unturned” and yet refused to fully investigate the circumstances of Teoh’s death.

Only yesterday, Najib condemned the family of Ahmad Sarbani Mohamed, the customs officer who fell to his death at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission office, to the same fate.

Both Taib and BN are harmful to Sarawak. Taib is unpopular and Najib has had to return to Sarawak to play the superhero, to help save Taib and maintain BN state rule.

najib rally kuching 100411 scramble for goodie bags But is Najib the superhero or is he the millstone?

At the various BN ceramahs in Sarawak, people flock to them, not apparently to see and hear what Najib has to say.

How much have the people been paid to be bussed in to hear Najib? In peninsular Malaysia, the going rate is around RM20-RM30 to attend such events. Those officers who work in the banks which deal with government payouts will know. Ask them. There is always a paper trail.

At last night’s ceramah for Najib, there was a mad rush after the event when participants pushed and elbowed each other to grab hold of goodie bags that were being distributed.

najib rally kuching 100411 tumblers The attraction is not Najib; it is his goodie party bag. Najib might as well have been talking double-dutch, in his birthday suit - the people did not come for him, they came with high expectations of his freebies.

The man is so vain that he included a poster of himself in the goodie bag.

A few days ago, Najib visited the Chinese-majority Padungan area, his first destination in BN’s Sarawak election campaigning.

That trip was more a media show than an opportunity to meet the people. It was there that Najib met a member of the public who admonished him for having only the 1Malaysia flags.

NONE He said, “Why are you only giving us this? We want money. It’s election time, you often give us money during election time.”

Najib has reduced us to a bunch of freeloaders and worshippers of money. He has made us into a nation that cannot think nor make decisions. He has treated us with contempt and derision.

Need to regain our self-respect

We need to regain our self-respect and boot both Taib and Najib out. We need to elect a government that is willing to agree to our reforms to help satisfy the aspirations of millions of restless Malaysians.

Najib knows that if he does not stop the current slide against BN, Taib will fall. Once Taib goes, the others in BN including and especially Najib, and the cronies who supported them, have no hope. That is why Najib must stop, at all costs, the current anti-government feeling in Sarawak.

Najib may think he is the superhero to go to Sarawak to “save” Taib. Najib is only doing that to protect himself for he will be next in line to be booted out.

Najib is Malaysia’s millstone.

The sentiment and feeling on the ground is that Taib does not have a chance and BN is finished.

So how will the public react when on the day after April 16, the results show that both Taib and BN have been returned to power?

MARIAM MOKHTAR is a non-conformist traditionalist from Perak, a bucket chemist and an armchair eco-warrior. In ‘real-speak’, this translates into that she comes from Ipoh, values change but respects culture, is a petroleum chemist and also an environmental pollution-control scientist.