Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud said the thumping victory obtained by the Barisan Nasional government in the eight state elections showed that voters wanted continuity and had rejected political parties from Peninsular Malaysia.

Abdul Taib added that this was shown by the manner the BN obtained 60 of the 62 seats, adding three more seats from the previous state elections in 1996.

He said that the people of Sarawak enjoyed the development which was obtained through the BN government.

"The Sarawakian voters, especially the Malays, today showed that the Malays here are not split and they have resoundingly rejected the indecent politics brought here by (peninsula-based) Keadilan and PAS," said Abdul Taib at a press conference at his official residence in Kuching after the official results were announced.

"All allegations that the Malays here are split and that we need Umno are untrue," he added.

"PAS contested in three seats and lost in all those seats even though they campaigned aggressively. The people today rejected their idea to Islamicise Sarawak."

Abdul Taib, who won the Balingian seat by easily defeating all three Independent challengers who all lost their deposits, added that Sarawakians also did not want to be dragged into Keadilan's politics which was based on jailed politician Anwar Ibrahim.

"The people do not want to take sides with a person who has been found guilty by our judiciary," he added.

Anwar is currently serving 15-year jail term for sodomy and corrupt practices.

Cronyism tolerated

However, when asked on the various allegations by Keadilan that he was corrupt and practised cronyism in the state, Abdul Taib merely said, "If I ask you if you hate your husband, what will you say? If I beat my wife, should I tell you?"

He also said that the people there did not mind cronyism as "it is for the development of the state".

On allegations of money politics during the elections, Abdul Taib said he had instructed the police to take immediate actions to nab the offenders.

Meanwhile, one of the seats which the BN coalition failed to retain was the predominantly Iban seat of Meluan, losing to the sole Independent candidate Wong Judat, a successful Iban businessman.

Wong defeated the BN incumbent Geman Itam by a majority of 2,158 votes.

The result is a slap on the face of Abdul Taib who had chosen Geman over Sarawak National Party's (Snap) own choice, its secretary-general Justine Jinggut.

The other seat went to DAP which won back the Kidurong seat through Chiew Chiu Sing. The party had lost the seat to BN in a by-election after the 1996 state polls.