‘Sending legal team to London not invitation for foreign interference’

MIRI: SUPP has dismissed as far- fetched the allegation that the proposed fact- finding delegat ion to London on Malaysia Agreement 1963 ( MA6 3) is tantamount to an invitat ion for foreign interference.

Its secretary- general and Piasau assemblyman Datuk Sebas t ian Ting said the mission aims to search for the relevant documents and references to establish a strong legal position for Sarawak in its negotiations.

“Foreign interference – that cannot be correct. This move shows we are serious. The Chief Minister is serious and we are sending a good team of lawyers down there to do a complete study to establish our legal stand,” he said.

Ting was asked to comment on a Malaysiakini article quoti ng Amanah deput y president Salahuddin Ayu as saying that the party was worried that the Sarawak state government’s act of sending lawyers to London to study the Malaysia Agreement 1963 ( MA63) would be inviting foreigners to ‘ intervene’ in national affairs.

Ting said it is a right move, which underscored the seriousness of Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg and the state government in fighting to uphold the state’s rights and interests.

Last Friday, Abang Johari announced that the state would send a team of lawyers to London to search for and study any references related to the state’s rights under the MA63.

Strengthening the state’s autonomy – a movement initiated by Abang Johari’s predecessor, the late Datuk Pat inggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem – was a popular decision in the state and contributed to the strong showing by the state Barisan Nasional ( BN) in the last station election in 2016.

Sarawak DAP on Sunday questioned the rationale of the state government in sending lawyers to London when the relevant documents were already in the state.

Citing a July 2016 news report, Sarawak DAP chief Chong Chien Jen said SUPP had already brought back ‘valuable’ documents on the MA63 to present to Adenan.

To this, Ting said: “SUPP has a good collection but we do not claim to have 100 per cent of the important references and documents relating the rights and conditions of MA63, and therefore, sending this legal team from Sarawak is the right thing to do”.

“We do not know if there are other documents that we may have missed out. In order to prepare out position, we must have all the relevant documents for a full presentation.”

He said while SUPP had the reference documents, it did not get it from the source directly.

SUPP said it fully supports the Chief Minister in getting the best deal for Sarawak and Sarawakians to regain the state’s rights eroded since the formation of Malaysia, following the signing of the 18 Points Agreement for Sarawak in 1963.

The rights of the state stipulated in this agreement is the bone of contention between Sarawak and the federal government, which has agreed to set up a committee to discuss the devolution of power.