Fortunate - Such An Abused Word
‘Sarawak is fortunate that it has the power to make its own decisions to suit local conditions and not necessarily follow the decisions of the federal government every time, which may not be in the state’s best interests’
Those words are attributed to CM Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg and it was in reference to the measures taken by the Sarawak state government to stop the spread of Covid.19 in the state. He was talking about the ‘power’ vested in the Sarawak state government by virtue of Ninth Schedule Clause (7) of the Concurrent List in the federal constitution. He went on to say it is a right (power) that Sarawakians must protect in future.
https://www.newsarawaktribune.com.my/sarawak-fortunate-to-have-autonomous-powers/
"These words triggered in me this question, ‘ Was Abang Johari mind in so convoluted a state that a very clearly stated piece of Sarawak’s history in Malaysia was made to sound like what it was not? Or, was he completely clueless about Sarawak’s history in Malaysia and clueless about the initiatives that political parties and civil societies in Sarawak had initiated to reclaim Sarawak’s rights? Rights that should not only have been unchallenged but also preserved by the federal government without Sarawakians having to take any kind of actions that may be regarded as confrontational in nature like seeking to amend the federal constitution or seeking redress in court"
The founding fathers of Malaysia intention was for Sarawak, Sabah and the federated states of Malaya to be equal partners in Malaysia and from that equal partner formula should have flowed all the powers that Sarawak needed to control of its natural resources and to manage its affairs. That status was affirmed by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) during Pakatan Harapan (PH) tenure as the federal government.
https://www.pmo.gov.my/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/MA63_S.pdf
https://www.theborneopost.com/2016/02/21/adenan-great-defender-of-sarawaks-rights/
On the 16th September 2012 at Chonglin Park in Kuching, the state heads of PKR, DAP and PAS, collectively known as Pakatan Rakyat launched the historic Kuching Declaration, in answer to the increasingly loud calls from across all sections of Sarawak with perhaps leaders and hardcore supporters of the Barisan Nasional as exceptions. And in an equally historic turn of event, the Sarawak DUN had on the 6th May 2014, unanimously approved a resolution to demand a 20% royalty on O&G from the federal government. That was part of a number of actions taken to fully reclaim Sarawak rights that was lost to the federal government vide a 1976 amendment to the constitution. That amendment relegated Sarawak status as equal partner in the federation to mere state like the states in federated Malaya.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuching_Declaration
How did that (the amendment) happened? Simply stated, it was with the approval of Sarawak’s MP in the Barisan Nasional. Two years earlier, the federal government, through the Petroleum Development Act 1974 had assumed full control over Sarawak’s oil and gas resources. They achieved that without the slightest bit of opposition from the MPs from Sarawak who were overwhelmingly from BN.
There was an opportunity for GPS MPs (the rebranded BN) from Sarawak to redeem themselves in May 2019 when an constitutional amendment to restore Sarawak and Sabah’s right as equal partner was tabled in parliament. They failed Sarawakians when they, together with their current partners in the PN federal government ( UMNO & PAS ) abstained from voting for the amendment.
The point here is this: Sarawak should have the power over its own affairs if the federal government had not, with the connivance of the Sarawak BN’s MPs (now GPS) usurp the powers granted it under the Malaysian Agreement 1963 (MA63). The loss of power had caused Sarawak to be in the ‘fortunate’ position to enjoy residual power, emanating from a concurrent list in the federal constitution. That is hardly a state of affairs that can be considered as fortunate.
Abang Johari, as CM of Sarawak and head of the GPS coalition should apologize to Sarawakians for this most unfortunate state of affairs instead of trying to claim credit for non-existent advantages such as autonomous rights. Indeed full autonomy is what Sarawak should have but what Sarawak has is merely ‘smadi nadai’ rights in the concurrent list in the federal constitution.
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