Former Sarawak governor and chief minister Abdul Rahman Yakub and the present chief minister and the nephew Abdul Taib Mahmud appear to be getting back together again after almost two decades of public acrimony over personal and political differences.

Rahman, who is holding a two-day Hari Raya open house, starting today, at his residence in Kuching confirmed that he and his estranged nephew did meet and hug when they met at Friday prayers about three weeks ago at the State Mosque in Petra Jaya.

Taib who had earlier confirmed hugging his uncle at the mosque described it as an act consistent with the holy month of Ramadan.

"This has been going on since the beginning of the year," Rahman said when asked how many times had they actually met and where. "And it has been at mosques."

He told malaysiakini that he would be in Kuching for a week and invited this correspondent to come and see him "if you want to hear the full story."

This was the first time that any of them had actually spoken about such meetings in public, although for some time it had been rumoured that they had met on a number of occasions, even outside Sarawak.

Asked whether the turn of events was the end of the plot, Rahman responded, "What plot! It ( the quarrel) was very real," he said.

Many quarters, however, believed that the uncle-nephew quarrel ( Taib's mother is Rahman's sister) was merely a sandiwara (play acting) staged to ensure the family's hold on Sarawak power politics.

1987 Ming Court coup

Rahman resigned as chief minister in 1981 and headed for the Astana as governor. Taib took over as chief minister but relations between the two soured eventually with Taib bitterly complaining that his uncle was interfering unnecessarily in the affairs of the state government.

Rahman was not re-appointed Head of State in 1985 and things came to a head in 1987 when attempts were made to topple Taib. This incident was popularly known as the "Ming Court coup" as the Rahman group directed their operation against Taib from the Ming Court Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

Instead of bowing down to the demand of the majority of state assembly representatives who were then supporting Rahman, Taib called for a snap election and managed to scrap through with a small majority.

Ever since, the Maju group led by Rahman and supported by Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS), then an opposition party in the state and a member of the ruling coalition at the federal level, never recovered.

The group eventually dwindled and many opposition assembly representatives pledged support for the state Barisan Nasional under Taib.

Stay in background

Taib has since consolidated his own position and that of his Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB), backed strongly by Sarawak National Party (Snap) and the Sarawak United People's Party (Supp). In 1994, PBDS returned to the BN fold.

After his electoral defeat, Rahman stayed away in the background, although his name did surface in subsequent state elections, linking him even with PAS.

Rahman, who still looks hale and hearty inspite of his years, gave some indications that both he and his nephew probably thought there was no point to go on at odds with each other.

Asked who had changed, he replied: "Both have changed."

According to political observers, it is significant that the two are coming back again at a time when Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has taken over as prime minister. "This is good for Taib and could very well have an impact on the coming general election."