Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud is faced with his 'own uncertainties' and cannot decide when to call for the state elections, according to Parti Keadilan Sarawak's legal adviser Dominique Ng.

"Our party is gaining momentum and it doesn't matter whether the elections are held tomorrow or in January next year," said Ng, who is also the party's Stampin division secretary. He was commenting on Taib's recent statement that "the elections are still far away."

"It will of course be better if the elections are held later as we're gaining momentum with a lot of our leaders coming over from Peninsular Malaysia to help out in Sarawak," Ng said today.

Taib, when meeting visiting journalists from peninsular Malaysia on Tuesday, had cited the emergence of a new political culture which he fails to understand as the reason for the delay in calling for the elections and that it had "nothing to do with fear".

Taib was quoted as saying:"We can call for elections at any time, even tomorrow, but we don't want people to get a trauma as a result."

"We are now facing a new kind of political culture which I still do not understand," Taib had said.

"I can tell you it is not that we want to escape from losing but our main concern now is to ensure that we will still have a really good democracy like what we have enjoyed all this while," he added.

Stable order

Taib who is also the Sarawak Barisan Nasional chairman and the Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB) president, had recently claimed that the opposition's new style of politics was causing fear in Sarawak.

He spoke about violence which may raise its ugly head through the new political culture that he claimed the opposition had introduced in the state.

Taib told the visiting journalists that the new political culture was alien to Sarawakians whom according to him preferred the older and more stable order.

"Elections is the time to choose the people's representatives and not for creating confusion or causing agitation among voters," the chief minister had stressed.

However, Ng told malaysiakini that Taib's statement clearly indicates uncertainties on his part and that he is not prepared to call for elections when he feels his own party is going to lose, albeit even a few seats.

"He probably doesn't mind if the other parties lose a few seats,"said Ng.

Presently, PBB holds 29 out of the 62 seats in the state assembly and is by far, the largest of the four component parties in the state's ruling coalition.

Next on the list, is the Sarawak United People's Party (Supp) which has 14 seats while the remaining two component members, Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) and Sarawak National Party (Snap) have less than 10 elected members each.

Another clue

According to informed sources, there are also uncertainties as to where Taib will finally contest. He is presently the incumbent for Asajaya which is a predominantly Malay constituency located close to Kuching.

Asajaya has been in the limelight since Taib's own former deputy president and former Defence Minister, Abang Abu Bakar has announced he is ready to challenge him there.

Taib's statement on Tuesday to the visiting journalists that the central region of Sarawak is going to need at least RM1 billion in development funding over the next five years, is perhaps another clue that he is seriously contemplating on moving to the Balingian state constituency in the Lower Rejang area.

He had said the other regions of Sarawak were given a lot of attention in recent years and suggested that it is time to focus on the central region which includes the bastion of PBB's Melanau political territory. If Taib decides to contest in Balingian, he should win without much difficulty, said observers.

Meanwhile, Ng explained that whatever problems the opposition are facing, such as disputed seats, are no more serious than those faced by the state's Barisan Nasional.

Political game

"Taib may be playing a political game with all those statements, but he is aware that calling elections early may not be favourable to the BN," he added.

"We're ready for elections anytime, but with our momentum gaining it will be better if elections are held later." However, Ng feels that for various reasons Taib will not call for state elections in the immediate future.

"I have been told that the election date is calculated five years from the date of the first sitting of the state assembly," said Ng.

In other words, if the first sitting of the current assembly was in January 1997 then the state elections could be held in January next year, he explained.

"Taib may not be wrong in saying the elections are still a long way off," said Ng.