Nurul Izzah presses Taib to stand up for Sarawak

The PKR vice-president urged the Sarawak chief minister to put his new mandate to good use. — file pic

KUALA LUMPUR, April 25 — PKR vice president Nurul Izzah Anwar told re-elected Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud today to insist on increased oil royalties and more autonomy from the federal government.

She said these demands must be made to ensure that “this new state government, which has received a fresh mandate, will act to prove its commitment and sincerity to the rakyat in ensuring that their rights and needs are placed in prime position, beyond those of any political leader’s.”

Taib has been chief minister for three decades. — file pic

Abdul Taib, who has been chief minister for 30 years, has faced pressure from both the opposition and within Barisan Nasional (BN) to step down after an election that saw much of the campaign focusing on his leadership that has been marred by repeated allegations of corruption and land grabs.

Although BN won 55 seats or three-quarters of the 71-seat assembly in the April 16 vote, it lost twice as many seats as 2006 and found its popular support dropping from 63 to 55 per cent.

Nurul Izzah said Abdul Taib must use “the new mandate” to press the federal government to increase oil royalties to the state from five to 20 per cent “for the sake of Sarawakians, so that the immense wealth of the state can be shared with all its peoples.”

The Lembah Pantai MP also said that the chief minister must urge Putrajaya to end the Sarawak Proclamation of Emergency 1966.

“Unfortunately, even though the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz agreed and affirmed the readiness of the Attorney-General to revoke the emergency proclamations, the federal government remains recalcitrant and unready to revoke these proclamations,” she said.

Nurul Izzah also said the Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) president must ensure that the 18-point agreement for Sarawak to part of the Federation of Malaysia, to safeguard the interests, rights and autonomy of the state, is fulfilled. - Malaysian Insider