Kit Siang: Don't expect new dawn for Sarawak unless 'old Malaysia' changes too

 

DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang had lauded the passage of the MA63 constitutional amendments in Dewan Rakyat but warned that there cannot be a new dawn for Sarawak unless there is a new dawn for Malaysia.

The Iskandar Puteri MP said in a statement today that he considered the Sarawak elections to be the opening shot for GE15 and the battle to turn Malaysia's destiny around.

"There are people who say that a new dawn has come to Sarawak with the passage of the 2021 Constitution Amendment Bill by the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday, undoing the injustices of the 1976 Constitution Amendment Act which reduced Sarawak to one of the 13 Malaysian states when it was one of the three entities with Sabah and Malaya which formed Malaysia in 1963.

"I do not agree. We want a new dawn for Sarawak, but a new dawn for Sarawak has not arrived yet.

"It is a work-in-progress. What happened in Parliament on Tuesday is only the first step to bring about a new dawn for Sarawak, after half a century of nightfall!" he said.

Firstly, said Lim, Malaysians must ask why two or three generations of Sarawakians have been denied their full citizenship rights in Malaysia.

He also said that there was poor financial allocation, autonomy especially in terms of education and health, oil rights and development in Sarawak in the last half a century under BN/GPS rule.

"The 1976 Constitution Amendment Act is a major culprit. It brought nightfall to Sarawak for 45 years, which became one of the three most corrupt states in Malaysia.

"The second step is to demand fair and equitable compensation from the federal government for the lost rights of two or three generations of Sarawakians for full citizenship rights in Malaysia.

"Who was responsible? The blame cannot be put 100 percent on the shoulders of the federal government, as the Sarawak government leaders were also responsible in passing the 1976 Constitution Amendment Act," he added.

Lim took note that Sarawak leaders like Awang Tengah Ali Hassan are confident that GPS will win the election with a landslide and conceded that he may be right.

"The question then is whether there is going to be an opposition in the Sarawak state assembly in the next five years to uphold the rights and interests of Sarawak?" he said.

'Harapan ended Umno hegemony'

He claimed that if Pakatan Harapan had not succeeded in ending Umno's political hegemony in the 2018 general election, the GPS and Sarawak government leaders would continue to submit to the likes and dislikes of Umno in the federal government.

"In fact, the Harapan government tried to restore the full rights of Sarawak and Sabah in 2019, but GPS members of Parliament did not support the constitutional amendment then which would bring about an earlier new dawn for Sarawak," he said.

Lim admitted that he himself was not happy with the performance of the 22-month Harapan government as he believed that more could have been done and achieved, and said that there were stumbling blocks to reform from within the coalition itself.

"But the Harapan government was denied the opportunity to fulfil its election pledges – as the Harapan government could accelerate the fulfilment of the election pledges in the second half of its term if it had been slow in the first half-term.

"On top of that, there was sabotage and treachery within the Harapan ranks which culminated in the Sheraton Move conspiracy in February 2020, which undemocratically and unconstitutionally toppled the popularly-elected Harapan government.

"I can understand the frustrations and disappointments of the people that Harapan did not do more in the 22 months in power before it was undemocratically toppled.

"But I disagree with those who suggest that the DAP should break away from the Harapan government without trying to make it work," he said. - Mkini