Najib’s ‘blackmail’ shows insincerity to return rights under MA63 – Yii
KUCHING: Prime Minister Najib Razak’s statement at the closing of Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) triennial delegates conference (TDC) speaks volumes of his and Barisan Nasional’s hypocrisy and insincerity in returning the rights of Sabah and Sarawak under the Malaysian Agreement 1963 ( MA63).
Dr Kelvin Yii, special assistant to State DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen, said this in a recent statement.
In his ( Najib) address, he held the people of Sarawak to ‘ ransom’ claiming that he will only restore our commitment to restore Sarawak’s rights under MA63 on the condition that there are no talks of secession from Malaysia and Sarawakians must support Barisan Nasional ( BN). This is an outright ‘ blackmail’ and disrespectful to the people of Sarawak as well as the principle of the international agreement, he said.
Yii added: “First and foremost, our rights under MA63 are our rights to begin with that is spelt out under the agreement and not for him to use as a political tool or set conditions on what is rightfully ours. Fact of the matter is, it was the very same Barisan Nasional government that stole what was ours and eroded our rights over the years in the first place, and yet he had the nerve to set conditions on its return.
“This is akin to a thief coming to your house to steal your belongings and then setting conditions for the return of the belongings that is rightfully yours. This speaks volume of their insincerity of the matter and will only respect us if it suits the conditions that favours the Prime Minister who is desperately clinging unto power.”
According to the statement, the Pakatan Harapan ( PH) manifesto pledge to recognise the Malaysian Agreement as well as return certain autonomous rights to the State once PH get into power. Such ‘condition’ is necessary as they do not have federal power and the authority to do so, unlike Barisan Nasional who has every authority and power to return our right today, but instead chose to ‘ blackmail’ us with their own rights for the benefit and selfinterest of the Barisan Nasional government.
Yii said Sarawak already gave a strong mandate to BN in the 2013 General Elections and 2016 State Elections with 80 per cent and close to 90 per cent of the seats going to BN respectively, but yet, little to nothing is done in terms of returning our rights to the State. Questions need to be asked whether Najib and the current Barisan Nasional government can be trusted with multiple ‘ uturns’ and broken promises to the people.
“What is worst, is how SUPP, PBB and other Sarawak Barisan Nasional component parties sat there and probably cheered even though we were held ransom by the Prime Minister. Until now, there were no signs of them speaking up against the Prime Minister for such an irresponsible statement.
“Some within SUPP have tried to make an argument that the past leaders were ‘naive’ and ‘wrong’ to have given away our rights in the past, but the current crop of leaders are determined to get it back. However, they have failed to consider that the fact that the current crop of leaders’ constant support for the ‘ thief’ even with full knowledge of what happened is much worse in comparison to the past leaders that may have been ‘naïve’ or ‘ignorant’ in giving away our rights,” Yii added.
He said he was not saying the past leaders do not have to be accountable for their decision but the current crop of leaders knowingly empowers and supports the very same government that took away the people’s rights in the first place, on top of supporting the government that is caught up in multiple alleged international financial scandals including 1MDB, Felda, Mara, Tabung Haji and many others as well as the constant abuse of power and infringement of basic human rights.
SUPP and these so called local parties in Barisan Nasional, he added, are accomplice to the alleged crime and with their support, they are sending a message to children that those who steal from the people and mismanage this country can get away as long as their own benefit and self-interest is protected.
“That is why, in this upcoming election, a decision has to be made. Our decision will not only affect the socio- economic standing of our country, but also the message we want to send to our future generation of whether we take the bold step to change, or continue to support a “thief” since it may be more convenient or for our very own benefit.”