SUPP: Does Petronas suit have Harapan’s blessings?

SUPP today said that if the Petronas suit to seek a declarationfrom the Federal Court on the legality of the Petroleum Development Act 1974 (PDA) was done with the blessings of the Pakatan Harapan government, then all Sarawakians would suffer.

Such an action by Petronas was also contrary to the election manifesto of the Harapan coalition which promised to ensure that the Sabah and Sarawak economies would grow more rapidly for the prosperity of the people of both states.

SUPP Batu Lintang branch publicity and information secretary, John Lau, who said this, added it was also improper for Sarawak Harapan to say such action by Petronas presented Sarawak state with an opportunity to prove its claim based on the PDA.

“Bear in mind that the federal government is now led by Harapan. Why resort to this court action when they can move a new bill or repeal the Act in Parliament?” Lau asked.

He said instead of rallying Sarawakians to unite and oppose the suit, Sarawak Harapan instead blamed the state government for not pre-empting the action by the national oil company.

“It is obvious now that the Sarawak Harapan leadership may not have any influence in Putrajaya and thus we as Sarawakians must rally behind our Sarawak government in this time of need,” he added.

“We urge every Sarawakian to come together as one united force to rally behind the Sarawak government led by Chief Minister Abang Johari Abang Openg in this time of need,” he said.

He also stressed that Petronas must recognise that the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) is an international agreement which must be respected.

“Now is the time for us to pursue our rights under MA63. If at any time those rights were taken away from us, now is the time for it to be returned and restored. We will not move forward if we continue to look backwards,” he added.

'Dangling carrot'

On Monday, the national oil company said it was seeking a declaration that the PDA was the de facto law governing the industry and that it was the exclusive owner of all petroleum resources in Malaysia, including Sarawak.

The company also said it believes that the determination by the Federal Court would help provide clarity on its rights and position under the PDA.

The move comes after the May 9 polls which saw the Harapan assuming federal power. Under the previous BN government, Sarawak was set to assume greater control over its petroleum resources in hope it would remain loyal to BN.

Observers point out Harapan may not see an immediate need to grant Sarawak more petrol autonomy particularly since it is still under BN and instead may use the same tactic as BN dangling the autonomy as a “carrot” in the coming state elections. -Mkini