Three major dailies are pointing towards mid-April as the likely date for Sarawak's state election.

In a commentary in the Star today, veteran journalist Joceline Tan says "highly-placed sources" told her that April 8 would be nomination day, with polling to be held on April 16.

Rival daily New Straits Times , in a commentary by its Kuching correspondent Lian Cheng yesterday, gave April 9 as nomination day, with polling slated to follow a week later.

Chinese newspaper Sin Chew Daily refused to pin a date but reported today that the Election Commission would hold a training session for its staff in the state in early April, and that political party workers were preparing for polls they believe will be held next month.

sarawak BN convention taib and wife Political observers are also watching the movements of Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud  closely this weekend.

He will be receiving Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin this weekend. The duo will be in the state for a whirlwind tour from Friday to Sunday.

Tan described the Najib-Muhyiddin roadshow as a "pre-election rally".

"(It's) a signal that the federal government wants Sarawak on board," she wrote.

But more importantly, both Sin Chew and Star pointed to Taib's coming umrah pilgrimage as another important pre-poll event.

Sin Chew said Taib could announce the dissolution of state legislative assembly at Kuching airport upon his return from Mecca. The report did not state when this would be.

Esoteric signs

Tan wrote that Taib had once spoken about being inspired on a polls date last November, upon returning from his haj pilgrimage.

"It looks like the umrah will be his final inspirational journey before he seeks a new mandate from the people," wrote Tan.

But Cheng points to more esoteric signs for the looming Sarawak election.

Taib rolls royce Among others, she wrote, some observers noted that whenever Taib grew a goatee or donned a ring with a blue stone, it would be a sign that polls are near.

"What the rakyat await now is the moment when Taib slips on his ‘election ring'," she wrote.

Moreover, she said, observers would also be looking at which car, from his incredible fleet of luxury vehicles, he would be using.

"Whenever Taib uses his vintage Rolls-Royce with the registration 1963, it heralds good news," she wrote.