Expressing his sadness, Karim said Taib was “like a father to me”.
“Much of the peace, racial harmony, political stability and growth that we see in Sarawak can be attributed to him. He was a visionary and great strategist,” Karim told FMT.
He said Taib also brought change and unity to Sarawak with his “politics of development”, an approach to governance which focussed on economic growth and modernisation.
Taib died at a hospital in Kuala Lumpur at 4.40am. He was 87.
Karim served as Taib’s political secretary, and later chief political secretary, from 2000 to 2011.
“I look up to him as a father and mentor, and even inherited my present (state) constituency of Asajaya from him when he decided to move to Balingian from Asajaya in central Sarawak in 2001,” he said.
“He will be very much missed. My deepest condolences and heartfelt sympathies to his wife and family members.”
Taib was Malaysia’s longest-serving head of a state government, holding the post of Sarawak chief minister for 33 years from 1981 to 2014.
He was the country’s second-longest serving MP, representing Kota Samarahan for 38 years between 1970 and 2008.
He served as Sarawak governor from 2014 until late last month.
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