Tug of war over MA63
The debate over the Malaysia agreement 1963 and state rights has put the Federal Government and sarawak at odds with each other.
AS Sarawak comes to terms with being an opposition-controlled state, the political narrative here is increasingly dominated by the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) and state rights.
Pakatan Harapan’s victory in GE14 meant that the Sarawak government, for the first time, does not belong to the same coalition as the Federal Government. (There was no state elections in Sarawak last year as the state holds its polls separately.)
In the aftermath of GE14, the state government quit Barisan Nasional and rebranded itself as Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), an independent coalition of Sarawak parties championing state rights and interests.
Proclaiming “Sarawak First” as its slogan, GPS has pledged to focus on state-centric policies and reclaim state autonomy under MA63.
This has led to some tensions with Putrajaya on issues related to state rights, including Pakatan’s unfulfilled promise to increase oil and gas royalties to 20%, despite the “friendly” stance by GPS towards the Federal Government.
MA63 and state rights have emerged as the key issues leading up to the next state elections due in 2021, with both GPS and Pakatan tapping into long-standing grievances to win support.
On its part, the Federal Government has set up a special Cabinet committee to review MA63 and its implementation. It also attempted to amend Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution to restore Sabah and Sarawak as equal partners in Malaysia, which failed to secure the required two-thirds majority in Parliament when GPS MPs, along with those from Umno and PAS, abstained from voting.
“For the most part, state-federal relations have become more contentious as both sides claim to be MA63 champions,” says the University of Tasmania’s Asia Institute director James Chin.
This can be seen in their reaction to the failed amendment of Article 1(2).
“Pakatan says the amendment will bring back equality while GPS says it is not explicit enough. I think both sides are playing political games as they are positioning themselves for the coming state election,” Chin says.
“GPS made a political calculation in not supporting the amendment to Article 1(2), and this will set the narrative for the next state elections.”
There is no doubt, he adds, that MA63 will be the “number one issue” in the state elections.
“The wonderful thing about MA63 is that once you are ‘state nationalists’, you can blame everything on the previous federal government under Barisan.
“It’s ironic that GPS is blaming Barisan for not respecting MA63 since they were in power with Barisan, while Pakatan too is blaming Barisan for the non-implementation of MA63.”
Civil society organisation Rise of Sarawak Efforts chairman Ann Teo says GPS, in attempting to rebrand itself after leaving Barisan, has been campaigning on the platform that only local Sarawak parties and its people are able to look after the state’s interest.
“But some would say that we have been governed by our own locals ever since the British left; the Chief Minister and his Cabinet have always been locals,” she says.
Chin also notes that it will not be straightforward for Pakatan to campaign on the MA63 issue.
If the Federal Government decentralises powers to Sarawak now, it will be giving GPS more powers to use against Pakatan in the state elections.
Instead, he says Pakatan’s campaign line will be to urge Sarawakians to vote out GPS in order to get the benefits of autonomy from Putrajaya.
“Pakatan cannot devolve powers and money to GPS. If you do that, then why vote for Pakatan in the state elections?
“Hence the irony. Pakatan must show it is serious about restoring MA63 autonomy but cannot implement it as long as Sarawak is under GPS.”
Teo, whose organisation works on voter education and empowerment, observes that while many Sarawakians want to see devolution of powers and restoration of state rights, Malaysia’s constitutional and governance structure is that of federalism which delineates federal powers and state powers.