‘Dr M’s call for S’wak, Sabah to be given greater autonomy insincere’

MIRI: Progressive Democratic Party ( PDP) Youth leader Robert Ayu regards Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s call for the agreement between the federal government and Sabah and Sarawak to be reviewed to give the two east Malaysian states greater autonomy and development as “insincere”.

In his latest statement, the Pakatan Harapan prime minister candidate said this was in line with the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), which was signed by Sarawak and Sabah as partners and not as normal states.

He said the negotiation to form Malaysia was carried out between Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak.

Robert dismissed the statement as campaign talk in the light of the coming 14th general election (GE14).

“We all remember that he was our PM (prime minister) for 22 years. Did he ever talk about reviewing MA63 then? Did he ever give back any of the powers that had been eroded over the years. Why now?” he asked.

He said Sarawak had been pursuing the return of autonomous rights from the federal government ever since the time of the late chief minister Pehin Sri Adenan Satem up till the present day under current Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg.

“We are on the right track, so let it be,” he said.

In a Facebook live talk yesterday morning, Dr Mahathir claimed that when Malaysia was formed, the federal government did not regard Sabah and Sarawak as partners but as states merely on the same level as Perlis, Kedah, Kelantan and other states in Peninsular Malaysia.

“So we need to review our agreement with them and give them more power to ensure greater development,” he was quoted as saying.

He was responding to a question from a viewer on his thoughts on poverty among the Bumiputera in Sabah and Sarawak and the lack of development in these two east Malaysian states.

The former prime minister, who now heads the Pakatan Harapan opposition front, said the federal government had not given adequate attention to east Malaysia. Pakatan Harapan, in the second part of its Sarawak manifesto unveiled last Saturday, had dangled the promise of giving back half of Sarawak’s tax revenue and increasing oil and gas royalties to 20 per cent from the current five per cent.