Sarawak Chief Minister Adenan Satem asking his counterparts from Selangor and Penang to write in to request for an extension of their stay shows the leader’s lack of respect for their office.
Selangor Menteri Besar Azmin Ali says Adenan’s remarks indicates “arrogance” and “recklessness” on the chief minister’s part in wielding his executive power of autonomy over Sarawak’s immigration.
“I can understand that this is election season and in politics, a leader has to do whatever that is legally permissible to secure final victory for his party.
“However, in taking this arrogant stand towards his fellow Malaysian leaders, Adnan has crossed the line and exposed himself as being reckless in the use of his executive power,” said Azmin in a statement today.
The menteri besar reminded Adenan that he has lost touch with reality if he thinks that acting in such fashion is his attempt at making a stand on autonomy.
State BN 'sold out' S'wak
Autonomy, said Azmin, is about getting back the rights and privileges and a fair share of what is due to the people of Sarawak and ensuring that they are not oppressed in any way, whether it is from the federal government or from its own state government.
“Autonomy is about letting the people of Sarawak decide what is best for them within the context of the federation of Malaysia and would certainly include freedom from exploitation by leaders and political parties be they from the peninsula or from Sabah or Sarawak.
“The truth of the matter is that Sarawak, under the Barisan Nasional government, has long compromised their autonomy and sold out the people of Sarawak,” added Azmin.
He further pointed out how banning or restricting opposition politicians will not ‘wash away the sins and wrongs of the BN leaders’ as 25 MPs from BN Sarawak have supported the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in Parliament.
“(The) Sarawak BN government has done so little to scrap the cabotage policy, and unable to secure sufficient federal allocation to improve the rural healthcare and education system.
“These are the issues closer to the heart of any Sarawakian and a government who claims to preserve the autonomy of Sarawak should place high priority to them rather than behaving high and mighty in banning and restricting entrance under the façade of maintaining autonomy.”
Sarawakians, said Azmin further, are entitled to have a free and fair state election and this includes their right to choose who they want to listen to and how and with whom they would want to conduct their campaigns.
“This brazen discrimination against leaders of the federal opposition from the peninsula and the blatant bias in favour of Umno-BN leaders is therefore also a violation of the rights of the electorate of the state of Sarawak who have a legitimate expectation of a level playing field in the coming elections,” said the menteri besar.
'Adenan expects people to be thankful'
The Malay Mail Online had quoted Azmin as saying that he will not submit a formal request to Adenan to extend his stay in Sarawak.
Azmin and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng both arrived in Sarawak yesterday to find that their entry permits stated that they can only remain in the state for a limited number of days, before the Sarawak elections.
Azmin must leave by May 2, while Lim's permit is until May 5.
The state immigration authorities have also banned a long list of opposition politicians from entry in the run-up to the May 7 state elections, as well as a small handful from Umno.
Meanwhile, DAP state leader Chong Chieng Jen has slammed Adenan, saying that it is demeaning to make Lim and Azmin write in ask for a longer stay to be granted.
"He (adenan) took away all their rights and he expects people to be thankful when he gives a little back.
"This is exactly the way Umno treats MCA. We are not SUPP, which is thankful to be allowed to contest 13 seats instead of the usual 19," Chong said in Kuching earlier today.
On an unrelated matter, Chong also dismissed Adenan's offer of a deputy chief minister from the Chinese community if they supported BN.
Chong said this was more to benefit SUPP president Sim Kui Hian if he wins and had no bearing on the Chinese community.
"This is because in the past, when SUPP had a deputy chief minister, the land lease issue was not resolved," said Chong, referring to the Section 47 notification, which resulted in the freezing of landownership.
"The Pan-Borneo highway was not carried out when they had a deputy chief minister and Chinese schools had no allocation.
"It is only in these last ten years when there is a gradual increase in the strength of the opposition that we get to pressure the government to resolve the land lease renewal issue," he said. -Mkini
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