KUCHING: With all signs pointing to a handsome win for Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) in the coming state polls, the state government will have the advantage to continue its effort to restore Sarawak’s autonomous rights as enshrined in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
“GPS, under Abang Johari has managed to materialise its claim to its oil and gas tax revenue from Petronas,” said political analyst Professor James Chin of the University of Tasmania Australia.
He said the current political instability in Malaya would provide opportunity for GPS to demand for greater state autonomy rights.
“Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin need take heed of Sarawak affairs in order to stay in power,” he said during an online seminar, ‘The Borneo Dilemma: Sabah and Sarawak under Muhyiddin administration,” organised by ANU Malaysia Institute and Sunway University recently.
He said it was important that the Perikatan Nasional (PN) federal government led by Muhyiddin maintain good federal-state relationship with Sarawak in order to stay in power.
One of the commitments, he said was the appointment of Sarawak MPs in his Cabinet line-up.
“He appointed 11 Sarawak MPs to be ministers and deputy ministers. This includes the establishment of a special portfolio for Sabah and Sarawak Affairs,” he said.
Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution
However, Chin said the quest to restore the MA63 was not easy. To solve the issue, he said Putrajaya must be willing to give up certain powers.
“The roadblock was because Putrajaya had refused to a political settlement.
“Once there is political settlement, then the legal settlement will be quite easy to resolve,” he said.
Touching on the original wording of the MA63, Chin said, the efforts to push to amend the Constitution to use the original word, might not be achievable in the near term.
“Basically, in the original MA63, Sabah and Sarawak were listed as separate regions compared to the other 11 states in Malaya.
“During the PH administration, Sarawak demanded that the amendment to Article 1(2) must be done pursuant to MA63, but the federal government did not support it,” he added.
MA63 grievance
Describing the situation in Sarawak today, he said the philosophy of Sarawak First and Sarawak for Sarawakians was even stronger than MA63.
“Sarawak state legislative assembly in November last year had passed an amendment to the Sarawak Constitution to not allow non-Sarawakians residing in the state from being qualified to stand for election.
“I do not know of any other states in Malaysia that has similar amendment.
“Sarawak has also embarked on its oil and gas company — Petros and own its broadcast station — TVS, as well as established a ministerial portfolio on education, established seven international schools that will offer English education.
“In short, Sarawak is building all state institutions within the state,” he said.
Chin argued that the real issues were grievances on the unfulfilled MA63.
He noted that an amendment of the Federal Constitution in 1978 has caused the grievances.
“The amendment has summed all states together and in terms of symbolic, Sarawak is not happy with the downgrade and wants to be regarded separately as a region.
“The real cause of the problem that we see in Sarawak today is Malaya’s insistence for Sarawak to follow Malaya’s Ketuanan Melayu, an Islamic feudal political model.
“Singapore could not take it and left in 1965,” he said.
Thus, in order to proceed with the implementation of the MA63, the federal government needs to better understand Sarawak’s background.
“Sarawak has nothing in common with Malaya because of different history, language, completely different demography, different colonial experience where Sarawak was ruled by the Brookes.
“Even the Malays are not the majority. There will always be turbulence if Malaya continues to try to expose its model in Sarawak. Forcing a round plug into a square peg where the tensions will lead to legal dispute will not suit Sarawak,” he added.
