ROADMAP FOR SARAWAK’S AUTONOMY AND SAFEGUARDS
Thank you Madam Moderator, distinguished colleague panel
speakers, ladies and gentlemen.
At the outset, may I take this opportunity to thank the
Organising Committee for inviting me to this historical “Debate” to present PKR
or Keadilan’s “Policies on the roadmap for Sarawak autonomy as our basic rights
and status” for the general Sarawakian voters to think through before the
upcoming 11th State General Election.
Ladies & gentlemen, our stand on Sarawak’s rights and
status has been crystal clear, consistent and certain from the beginning, and
is set out in our manifestos and policy documents:
Collins Dictionary defines “Manifesto” as:
“A public
declaration of intent, policy, aim etc as issued by a political party,
government or movement”.
Our policy documents that are in the public domain and
had been publicly launched are as follows:
1. Pakatan
Rakyat Manifesto 2011 (Sarawak Elections 2011);
2. Submission
to the Parliamentary Select Committee for Electoral Reform 2011;
3. The
Kuching Declaration dated 16th September, 2012;
4. Manifesto
Rakyat 2013 (General Elections 2013); and
5. 18-Point
Roadmap 2015 (Sarawak Elections 2016)
Amongst the issues that are consistently addressed in
these documents are:
1. Sarawak
as an Autonomous state and equal partner within the Federation of Malaysia
within the framework of the Federal Constitution as opposed to cessation;
2. Guarantee
to increase petroleum royalty for Sarawak and Sabah from 5% to 20%;
3. On
Native Customary Rights, land reform and the setting up of a Land Commission is
provided in all 4 policy documents;
4. Guarantee
of Freedom of Religion; and
5. The
Borneonisation of the Civil service.
• PAKATAN
RAKYAT MANIFESTO 2011 (SGE10) AND PKR 18 POINTS ROADMAP FOR 2016 SGE
For example, under Item 1, on “FREEDOM OF BELIEF” of our
Manifesto in 2011, we declared:
• “WE
GUARANTEE FREEDOM OF RELIGION as enshrined in the Federal Constitution without
any form of hindrance and make no discrimination in assistance and allocations
to a particular belief or religion and in the process maintain the status of
Sarawak as a secular State.”
• (Item
2 in 18PRM we included equitable distribution of building funds and lands for
construction of places of worship for all religions)
Under Item 2, on “GOOD GOVERNANCE” we pledged amongst
other things:
• To set
up an independent commission of inquiry to investigate the allegations of
ill-gotten wealth of BN politicians and their cronies, to ensure the due
process of law and prosecution and to return the wealth to the people of
Sarawak.
• To
establish an Ombudsman to receive complaints from the public against corruption
and power abuse by Government Ministers and heads of departments.
• To
restore local government elections for all local authorities including the adat
ruai and/or custom of choosing the Village Leaders or Ketua Masyarakat in order
to return power to the people at all levels.
• (Item
1 &18 18PRM, which further proposed 22nd July as a public holiday & the
removal of the term lain-lain from all State Government Forms)
Under Item 3, on “LAND REFORM & NATIVE LAND
COMMISSION” we promised amongst other things:
• All
expiring leases will be unconditionally renewed for 99 years.
• All
s.47 notifications will automatically lapse after 2 years of gazettal.
• Land
alienation will be carried out through open tenders.
• A
Native Land Commission shall be formed having power to investigate all NCR land
claims, and thereafter to survey and issue grant or leases to such lands in
accordance with the adat or customs of the natives of Sarawak.
• (Item
3 18PRM further promised the recognition of NCR in full i.e ‘pemakai menua & pulau galau’ concept).
Under Item 4, on “ERADICATION OF POVERTY” we promised
amongst other things:
• To set
up a RM1 Billion State Alleviation Fund to ensure that no family in Sarawak
lives below the official poverty line.
• To
kick-start the rural economy by the construction of roads connecting all the
rural areas of Sarawak that will quicken the provision and construction of
public amenities including schools, kindergartens, medical services and
telecommunications.
• (Item
5 18 PRM)
Under Item 5, on “FEDERAL-STATE RELATIONS” we pledged
amongst other things:
• To
maintain good federal state relations in line with the spirit of Malaysian
Agreement 1963, and ensure that any marginalization neglect and omission on the
18 points be addressed immediately.
• When
we takeover the Federal Government we guarantee to increase the petroleum
royalty from the present 5% to 20%.
• And
priority in employment opportunities in the State Public Service should be
given to Sarawakians, (the spirit of Borneonisation).
• (Item
4 18PRM)
Under Item 6, on “GREENER SARAWAK” we declared amongst
other things that:
• We
will ensure the observance and implementation of State and International laws
and/or Conventions on the environment for the benefit of future generations of
Sarawakians.
• We
will stop the constructions of excess/mega dams.
• (Item
15 18PRM includes EIA and Public Commission reports as a prerequisite in
implementing mega projects)
Under item 7, on “A FAIR DEAL FOR ALL SARAWAKIANS” we
promised amongst other things:
• Committed
to support stable economic growth, sustainable development and a fairer distribution
of income and wealth based on hard work, competitiveness and technological
innovation.
• The
immediate registration of stateless Sarawakians and the unconditional granting
of citizenship papers to all Malaysians of Sarawak origin.
• (Item
1 18PRM)
Under item 8, on “CULTURE AND EDUCATION” we said amongst
other things:
• We
respect the constitutional rights of all ethnic groups to learn their mother
tongues and to treat all mother tongue education equally.
• That
science and Mathematics subjects in secondary schools must be taught in the
English language.
• (Item
8 & 14 18PRM)
Under item 9, on “RIGHTS OF WOMEN & THOSE WITH
SPECIAL NEEDS” we declared:
• We
guarantee gender equality and will review all laws that are discriminatory
against women.
• To set
up more special schools for children with special needs.
• (Item
11 18PRM includes a zero tolerance policy for violence against women and
children)
Under item 10, on “INVESTMENT INTO THE FUTURE” we
promised:
• To
emphasize long-term investment in human capital and infrastructure to make
Sarawak a great economy.
• Wifi
to be provided free to move Sarawak into a knowledge state.
• (Item
12 investment on Youth development program, item 13 on Tourism, item, 14 on
Culture, item 16 on Agriculture & Fisheries and item 17 on Sports)
Ladies & gentlemen, our other policy documents i.e,
The Kuching Declaration 2012 and Manifesto Rakyat had incorporated these issues
too.
Therefore our stand is very public and set down on paper
and will be implemented when we are given the mandate to take the reign of the
State and Federal Government.
On top of all these, ladies & gentlemen, we have
advocated and stood for our rights repeatedly in the DUN since 2011 and in
public and press statements.
• ENGLISH
AS OFFICIAL LANGUAGE
On the status of English as an official language, I spoke
about this as far back as 2012 in the May session of the DUN and in statements
in the press each time some misguided civil servant calls for the enforcement
of the use of BM in official documents. And eventually, I am very glad that the
Honourable Chief Minister has agreed with me on this point, when he said it
publicly only at the end of last year.
• EDUCATION/UEC
On the UEC issue, our manifesto for GE13 states clearly
that a federal government under Pakatan Rakyat (now Pakatan Harapan) will
recognize UEC for admission for higher education. Although the Chief Minister
has said the state government recognizes UEC, long after we declared it, the
federal BN government disagreed with him.
• NO
OFFICIAL RELIGION FOR SARAWAK
On the official religion of the State of Sarawak, I have
pointed out early in my term as an ADUN, that this very fundamental right of
Sarawakians i.e, - that there is no official religion in Sarawak, a point that
was fought for by our forefathers must be maintained. Our stand on this matter
is public knowledge as it was widely reported in the press and online media. As
far as I know, no other political party had seen the need to remind the
government of this fact.
In fact, after I brought up on 2 occasions glaring errors
in government websites that stated that Bahasa Malaysia is our official
language and Islam is our official religion, these entries were removed from
the websites. The latest incident on the official religion issue was during the
last DUN sitting in December 2015. Where I demanded explanation from the Chief
Minister as to why is it that the government’s official portal
www.sarawak.gov.my under the tab ‘Visitors’ states that Islam is the official
religion of Sarawak. And the first time was in Chief Minister’s State Planning
Unit’s website under ‘Sarawak Facts and Figures 2010’.
• BORNEONISATION
We have also advocated for Borneonisation of the civil
service. YB Ali Biju raised this issue as far back as May 2012 in the DUN. I submitted a motion on this at the last DUN
sitting in December but it was rejected by the Speaker.
• SARAWAK
TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY
One crucial right that no other party has spoken up about
is the erosion of our territorial integrity brought about by the passing of the
Territorial Sea Act 2012. By that act, the territorial boundary of Sarawak was
reduced to 3 nautical miles by the Federal government with the intention to
claim ownership of the rich petroleum and gas reserves in the continental shelf
within our territorial boundaries. It should be noted by everyone in this
theatre that not one single Sarawakian MP spoke up for Sarawak in Parliament
when this Act was being debated. Sarawak PKR has no representation in
Parliament at that time. The impact of the shrinking of our territorial border
is incredibly huge – we are talking about ownership of our natural resources.
Our PKR Rep YB See Chee How tabled a motion for the state
government to restore our territorial integrity at the last DUN sitting and it
was accepted as an incorporation into a motion by Senior Minister Tan Sri James
Masing calling for the State government to discuss with the federal
administration the conditions set out by the state during the formation of
Malaysia in 1963.
• REPRESENTATION
IN PARLIAMENT
On the issue of representation in parliament, in our
submission to the Select Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reform in 2011,
we asked for the restoration of our veto power of 34% of seats for Sarawak and
Sabah, which was lost when Singapore left the Federation of Malaysia in 1965,
when 8 of their 15 parliamentary seats were given to Sabah and Sarawak (4 each)
and 7 to the Federation of Malaya. This had caused the balance of political
power between Peninsula Malaysia and Sabah/Sarawak to shift.
• NCR
OVER LAND
On NCR issues, No political party has been so passionate
about the protection of NCR over land for the natives of Sarawak other than
Keadilan. In the DUN two attempts were made by me to get the State Government to
amend the Sarawak Land Code to incorporate the decisions of the Courts on
“pemakai menua & pulau galau” but to no avail. On the first attempt, my
Motion was thrown out by the Speaker’s ruling. And on the second attempt upon
the suggestion and challenge made by the then Special Minister in the Chief
Minister’s office, now the Chief Minister of Sarawak, vide a Private Bill also
to amend the Land Code, it was defeated by a vote of the ADUN present. All the
BN YBs including the natives voted against it whereas all the opposition YBs
voted in support of the Bill. As far as I know, almost all the lawyers involved
in defending NCR Cases are Keadilan members.
• OTHER
RIGHTS
On other rights, our PKR assemblymen have unfailingly
spoken up for better provisions for health, education, infrastructure and
economic growth. After all this was the very reasons why our forefathers agreed
to form Malaysia; to be on par with Malaya in every aspect of her welfare.
• CONCLUSION
Ladies & gentlemen, it is my submission this
afternoon that it is without a doubt that PKR together with our partners had
made it very, very clear that our policies are carefully articulated to
maintain the autonomous right of Sarawak within the Federation and to protect
our rights as agreed under the Malaysian Agreement of 1963 and the 18 points
agreement upon which Malaysia was formed. I rest my case.
Kuching Declaration 2012
The Kuching
Declaration is
a declaration was adopted by the three component parties of the Pakatan Rakyat (i.e. People's Justice Party (PKR) signed by Anwar Ibrahim and Baru Bian, Democratic Action Party (DAP) signed by Lim Kit Siang and Wong Ho Leng, Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) signed by Abdul Hadi Awang and Adam Ahid, ) to coincide with Malaysia Day celebrations on 16 September
2012 held at Chonglin Park,Kuching, Sarawak, the
declaration pledge and promise will honour the spirit of the Malaysia
Agreement of 1963 to
the nations and the peoples of the States of Sarawak and Sabah that
when they form the next government of
the Malaysia they will honour
all its pledges and promises in this declaration.
The Declaration
Lest we forget,
and lest all the peoples of our great Nation of Malaysia forget, we the
undersigned do once again firmly, resolutely and unequivocally pledge and
promise before the whole Nation of Malaysia as our witness, on this
historically day 16 September 2012, in the City of Kuching, and on behalf of
our respective parties and Pakatan Rakyat will honour all its pledges and
promises to the peoples of Malaysia.
We will
honourably execute all the policies set forth in the Buku Jingga so that Malaysia
will once again be a great Nation, her peoples prosperous, her future secure
and peaceful, and her name celebrated by all the nations of the world.
We will honour
the spirit of the Malaysia
Agreement of 1963 which
our founding fathers put their hands to, and as a sign of our deep commitment
to the peoples of Sarawak and Sabah, consistent
with democratic principles and justice for all Malaysians, in particular:
ARTICLE ONE:
EQUAL PARTNERS
We will restore
the spirit of the Malaysia
Agreement and
the position of Sarawak and Sabah[1] as equal
partners within Malaysia by
restoring autonomy to Sarawak and Sabah within the framework of the Federal
Constitution.
ARTICLE TWO:
FAIR REPRESENTATION
We will increase
national integration between Sarawak, Sabah and Peninsular
Malaysia through
a fair power-sharing arrangement that fully upholds the spirit of the Malaysia
Agreement.
ARTICLE THREE:
CITIZENSHIP
We will set up a
Royal Commission to solve the perennial national problem of illegal immigration
and citizenship, particularly in Sarawak and Sabah.
ARTICLE FOUR:
RESTORATION OF NATIVE CUSTOMARY RIGHTS OVER LAND
We will endorse
the authority already vested in the State Laws of Sarawak and Sabah to set up
Land Commissions to investigate, resolve disputes, redress, survey and restore
Native Customary Rights over Native Customary Lands.
ARTICLE FIVE:
COMPETENT SARAWAK AND SABAH
We will endorse
the appointment of Sarawak and Sabah citizens to head Government Departments in
their own respective States and by the powers vested in the State Secretaries
of both States as well as give first priority to the appointment of Sarawak and
Sabah citizens at Federal Government level functioning within Sarawak and
Sabah.
ARTICLE SIX: OIL
JUSTICE
We will raise
the royalties paid on petroleum and hydrocarbon resources to Sarawak and Sabah
to 20% from the present 5%.
ARTICLE SEVEN:
EQUITABLE DEVELOPMENT
We will bring
the level of infrastructure development in Sarawak and Sabah up to par with
Peninsular Malaysia.
We, the
undersigned, make this declaration as an incontrovertible contract between the
Pakatan Rakyat and the peoples of Malaysia, this historic day of 16 September
2012 on Malaysia Day, so that it may ring out resoundingly from Malaysia’s high
forest hills down to the open sea; so that freedom may ever reign; and our
peoples live in unity!
In witness
whereof the undersigned, being duly authorised thereto, have signed this
Declaration, and all the peoples of Malaysia being witnesses thereof.
Done at Kuching,
this 16th day of September, 2012, in six copies of which one shall be deposited
with each of the signatories.[3]
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