Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 29): Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil has clarified that the Pakatan Harapan’s election promise to properly enforce the Malaysia Agreement 1963 to uphold the rights of Sarawak and Sabah is facing difficulties, due to the country’s current fiscal position.  

Specifically, Fahmi was referring to the coalition’s election pledge to increase the oil royalty to Sarawak, as well as to other oil producing states, to 20%. 

“In principal, if something was signed, we have to honour it. (But we cannot proceed) due to the practical considerations right now; we want to do it but we are severely in debt now,” he said during a forum organised by the Jeffrey Cheah Institute on Southeast Asia at Sunway University.  

Pledge number eight of the Pakatan Harapan’s 10 promises within 100 days in power, is to set up a Special Cabinet Committee to properly enforce the Malaysia Agreement 1963. However, no concrete plan has been announced by the government so far, towards this end.  

At this point, the government needs to review the requests and election promises due to the fiscal legacy of the previous administration, Fahmi said.  

“I think the tremendous amount of economic and fiscal problems that we now find ourselves in today, does not warrant a papering over or just closing our eyes and just blindly working towards fulfilling a lot of our promises. It’s definitely very important for us to fulfil our promises where it is practical, but at the same time, we have to now match with the reality that we have a lot of debt, no thanks to the previous administration. 

“In other words, we are paying today for the sins of yesterday. This is terrible and should not be happening to us,” he added. 

The issue of Sarawak rights under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 was raised during the forum by former minister in the prime minister’s department and current MP for Batang Sadong, Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri, highlighting Sarawak needs the oil royalty to develop the state.  

“The agreement is very important to us, because that agreement was supposed to safeguard the interests of Sarawakians and Sabahans,” she said.   

After her party Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu exited the Barisan Nasional coalition and formed Gabungan Parti Sarawak, Nancy said she is more open to discussion with and pressing the government for Sarawakians' rights.  

“We can assert our rights especially under the GPS; we do not feel that fear to address what should be ours and what we should claim as ours under the constitution. Arguing about the oil royalty is something that is very new to us,” she added.  

“Last time, if we were to go against the chief whip here, it doesn't look good as a party. Now it is all within us; we empower ourselves to choose what we want to do and what we feel right for ourselves,” Nancy said. 

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