KUCHING: Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has been reminded to be friendly and supportive of Sarawak and Sabah if he wants to keep their support.
In stating this, Political analyst at the Department of Sociology, University of Malaya Associate Professor Dr Awang Azman Awang Pawi said Sarawak needed to be firmer in its demands for petroleum royalty, exploration rights over its natural resources (gas and petroleum), its position as a region in Malaysia, and its rights contained in the Malaysian Agreement 1963.
Awang Azman foresees that Muhyiddin would have tough challenges ahead in developing the country and meeting the aspirations of the people.
Still, he is confident that Muhyiddin can work well with the Sarawak as he has a long and good working relationship with the state from the time he was deputy prime minister under the Barisan Nasional (BN) government.
“With such a good relationship it will be easier for him to work with the state government after putting aside their political differences,” said Awang Azman.
However, he thought that although Muhyiddin was well-versed in Sarawak politics, he needed to settle outstanding issues affecting Sarawak such as petroleum royalty, the five per cent state sales tax on petroleum products, as well as Sarawak rights as stipulated in the Malaysia Agreement 1963.
He said Muhyiddin and his administration must treat these issues affecting Sarawak and Sabah as top priorities.
At the same time, the prime minister should also immediately give a directive to get dilapidated schools in Sarawak repaired, allocate funds for infrastructure development projects such as roads, bridges, hospitals and clinics.
“The federal government must be fair to Sarawak and Sabah as they are major contributors to the nation’s economy, while Sarawak is the biggest state in Malaysia,” he said.
Awang Azman stressed that policies and decisions by Putrajaya must be friendly to the people of Sarawak and Sabah, adding that red tape ought to be reduced and Putrajaya needed to show more understanding for problems and development challenges faced by Sarawak and Sabah.
He said the BN or Pakatan Harapan were not stable as they were always trying to pull each other down, so he thought it wise for GPS not to get involved in their problems in order not to lose the respect of Sarawakians.
“If GPS gets involved, it may backfire and cause it downfall in the coming state election.
