Sarawak BN component parties want Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud to continue helming the state.  

siby by-election nomination day 080510 mahmud taib 02 This was the firm stand taken by the parties at a two-day BN retreat, beginning June 22, in Mulu, said Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) Wanita deputy chief Fatimah Abdullah.     

She said party leaders and elected representatives from the four-member state coalition had voiced out in unison, that Taib's leadership was still needed.     

Taib, 74, the longest serving chief minister since assuming office on March 26, 1981, is state BN chairman and PBB president.     

Describing Taib ( right ) as a dynamic leader, Fatimah, who is also minister in the Chief Minister's Department in charge of women and family development, said the chief minister could "glue" the various BN component parties together.     

She said this after launching the Julia Chong Book Prize for Excellence in Music, organised by the Social Studies Department of the Institut Pendidikan Guru Kampus Batu Lintang in Kuching.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak said he would meet with Taib over the latter's intention to withdraw from politics, pending approval from the top BN leadership.   

Taib's work still wanted 

Taib was quoted as saying that he wanted to step down in 2006, but decided otherwise, as many in PBB wanted him to stay on.     

Fatimah said there were many issues, in terms of development programmes such as the implementation of the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (Score), that still needed Taib's leadership.     

Meanwhile, the Samarahan Zone PBB Youth handed over a memorandum of support, urging Taib to remain as chief minister, to Asajaya state assemblyperson Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah at the Kota Samarahan's civics centre near here today.     

Abdul Karim is also Taib's chief political secretary.      

- Bernama