Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg’s claim for full rights over the oil and gas resources of the state created much fanfare among Sarawakians before the 14th general election - until the day when national oil company Petronas filed a suit against the state.
Petronas filed a suit to seek a declaration from the Federal Court that it is the exclusive owner of petroleum resources and industry regulator throughout Malaysia, including Sarawak.
However, Putrajaya considered intervening in the case and this move had the hearing on the matter postponed to June 21 instead of today.
University of Tasmania Asia Institute director James Chin said that the decision made by Petronas to sue the state was to get a legal ruling on the Petroleum Development Act (PDA) 1976.
"I think the decision to sue was taken when Abang Johari announced that Petros will hold the rights to all oil and gas in Sarawak. Petronas saw that it cannot operate freely after July 1, so it would be better get a legal ruling on PDA.
"Actually, the federal case is good for both sides. People in East Malaysia have been talking about PDA and Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) for donkey years, as if they know the law. One guy in Sabah even made a career of writing books about MA63 and legal aspects," Chin told Malaysiakini.
Talks on Sarawak's autonomy and devolution of powers have been a part of the state BN manifesto since the state elections in 2016. The late Adenan Satem (photo), who was the chief minister then, led a landslide victory, winning 72 out of the 82 seats.
Following Adenan's untimely death in January 2017, Abang Johari took over the helm of the state and later established Petroleum Sarawak Bhd (Petros) and Development Bank of Sarawak (DBOS).
In April this year, Abang Johari announced that companies involved in oil and gas industries in the state must obtain licences and leases from the state government, under the Sarawak's Oil Mining Ordinance and Gas Distribution Ordinance.
This created confusion over the overlapping of federal and state laws pertaining to oil and gas rights. According to The Borneo Post, Abang Johari said that the PDA signed in 1976 does not apply to the state without the endorsement of the state assembly.
Political analyst Faisal Hazis believes that the motive of the suit is to clear the overlapping laws with regard to the rights over natural resources.
"It could be for a few reasons. One is to limit the power of the state in trying to claim the rights over natural resources and telling the state that they are going to honour the manifesto and give it the five or 20 percent oil royalty.
"Ultimately, the rights over oil and gas remain in the hands of the federal government under the PDA. That is basically trying to put a boundary or limits to the claim made by the state government that Petros is in charge," Faisal (photo) told Malaysiakini.
Faisal currently serves as the head of Centre of Asian Studies from the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS) in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM).
A precursor to consolidate support
The suit by Petronas against the state government came with strong reactions from Sarawakians, especially from the nationalists.
However, Chin pointed out that they should not put such high hopes on the case but rather, it should be the starting point for other suits related to MA63.
"My guess is that we will not get a full answer from the Federal Court. They will just give an answer on PDA or even push it back to Parliament, but at least we will have a legal starting point for other suits related to MA63.
"The move to sue the state government is very good for nationalists in Sabah and Sarawak and good for the federal government, as it gives partial legal clarity," Chin said.
Faisal shared the same opinion too, that the move is also seen as a 'catalyst' to consolidate the support in the state - a precursor to Sarawak Barisan Nasional component parties leaving the coalition.
"PBB will start the ball rolling and the rest will follow suit. This could be a ploy to speed up the BN Sarawak leaving the coalition and to eventually form a state-based coalition.
"The last state election was the first election where they put the promise to take back Sarawak's autonomy and interests in the manifesto. They basically hijacked the whole manifesto from the opposition to win back the support of the people.
"The issue of state autonomy has been the agenda of the opposition. Adenan Satem hijacked and took all of that. That clipped the influence of the opposition and they became directionless after that," Faisal said.
He pointed out that Sarawak Pakatan Harapan has lost the 'mother-of-all issues' that they have been fighting for when BN hijacked the idea of state autonomy.
"When Abdul Karim Hamzah made that statement that the Harapan government should honour the promise in the manifesto by giving oil royalty to Sarawak, this was challenged by Chong Chieng Jen and Pakatan Harapan Sarawak.
"If you give to them now, so what Pakatan Harapan Sarawak is going to offer in the next state elections? That will be the end of their advantage in fighting off BN Sarawak," Faisal said.
In Kuching this afternoon, the dissolution of Sarawak BN was announced, with all four component parties - PBB, SUPP, PRS and PDP - announcing their exit and forming a new state-based alliance called Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS). -Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.