KUCHING: The interests of Sarawak, and respect for the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), should be paramount for Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) when it comes to who to support as the next prime minister.
Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Bawang Assan chairman Senator Robert Lau stressed that most important was the need to have a stable government.
“A stable government with focus on fighting Covid-19 and less politicking is what the GPS state government wants.
“That is why it had chosen to support Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin for the last 18 months and stayed loyal.
“This was because of the need to have a stable government and at the same time, Muhyiddin has the ear and care for the interests of Sarawak,” he said when commenting on the resignation of Muhyiddin and his federal Cabinet on Monday (Aug 16).
Lau said Perikatan Nasional (PN) had served the interests of Sarawak during these 18 months.
“The most significant is to get the federal government and Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) to accept the imposition of the State Sales Tax (SST) and pay the five percent petroleum royalty to the Sarawak government since 2019.
“This contrasts with the first action taken by Pakatan Harapan (PH) in relation to Sarawak, which was to get Petronas to sue Sarawak to annul the State’s Oil Mining Ordinance 1998 and the refusal to acknowledge the SST.
“At the same time, PH reneged on its election promise of giving Sarawak 20 percent oil royalty.”
Lau said now was also an opportune time for the state to seek for the return of autonomy for healthcare and education.
“The delegation of power to Sarawak will make the administration smoother and more efficient,” he said, adding that too much power had been concentrated in Putrajaya.
