KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has expressed his condolences over the passing of former Governor Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud.
In a statement, Anwar said Malaysia has lost a respected statesman whose service and devotion to the nation and the state of Sarawak will always be remembered.
"On behalf of the Madani administration, I express my condolences to the family of the deceased and the people of Sarawak.
"Indeed, we, especially the people of Sarawak, lost a respected statesman. The deceased's service and devotion to the nation and the state of Sarawak will always be remembered forever," he said.
Taib passed away at 4.40 this morning in Kuala Lumpur.
Taib, who was 87 years old and Sarawak's fourth Chief Minister from March 1981 to February 2014, will be flown back home.
The body is expected to arrive at the Kuching International Airport in Kuching at around 3pm today from Kuala Lumpur, and from the airport brought directly to his residence in Demak Jaya at Jalan Bako.
Tomorrow, Taib's body will be taken to the State Legislative Assembly for the public to pay their last respects from 8am to noon.
The body will then be brought to the Demak mosque for prayers before the burial ceremony in the family's cemetery in Demak Jaya.