The state has no intention of wanting to weaken the Federation of Malaysia, as it is only claiming its rights enshrined under the Federal Constitution, (the) Malaysia Agreement 1963, the Malaysia Act, the Inter-Governmental Reports and Recommendations and

executive to management levels.

This was a rare occasion in which a chief minister from a Barisan component party was negotiating with the Barisan head in rather opposition-like behaviour. In fact, one might argue that the entire push for greater autonomy presented a strange, unprecedented relationship within the political players in the state. Here, we were presented with both the state government (led by Barisan Sarawak-based parties PBB and SUPP) and the opposition parties (led by DAP) united in their demands for more safeguards to protect local Sarawakian employment in Petronas.

In fact, the second big demand emerging from Adenan’s office was to increase the oil royalty from 5% to 20%, which ironically enough started off as a motion originally tabled by a DAP state assemblyman, but amended to include more development grants from the federal government and then subsequently tabled by a Barisan assemblyman. The resolution was approved back in May 2014, just two months after Adenan took over office, in an unusual act of unanimous cooperation between parties from both sides. Such bilateral voting towards a common cause has almost never taken place in any other state, much less federal Parliament.

In another effort to negotiate for greater oil rights for Sarawak, Adenan announced in the June 2016 state assembly meeting that the state would develop a new regulatory framework