The Sarawak BN is fully prepared for the 10th state election, Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud said today.

Taib, who is state BN chairperson, said he had received lists of candidates for the 71 state seats.

"We are ready. We already have the candidates, but I cannot announce their names now," he told reporters after opening the Al-Amin Beladin mosque.

Taib described criticisms of the state government by foreign non-governmental organisations as "mischievous", and said they would not stop the government from continuing to develop Sarawak.

Taib said the state BN government did not need to entertain the criticisms because it knew what to do for the good of the people in Sarawak.

The Sarawak BN has 63 seats in the state legislative assembly whose term ends this July 24.

Earlier in his speech, Taib said that Sarawak had got out of the group of poor states 40 years ago and as of now almost 94 per cent of people in the state were above the poverty line.

Taib said the politics of development which he introduced had brought much progress to the state.

- Bernama