KUCHING: All that needs to be done with regard to the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) is to honour the covenant.
“We have to honour what has been agreed upon by our forefathers, any changes would be inappropriate,” said political analyst Prof Datuk Mohd Fadzil Abdul Rahman.
But another analyst,Professor James Chin, an expert in Asian studies at the University of Tasmania in Australia, is a little more hesitant.
He feels much will depend on the outcome of the forthcoming 15th General Election (GE15) which is expected to be called anytime.
Fadzil, who is also Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) deputy vice chancellor insisted that the agreement be fulfilled to the letter when contacted for his opinion on Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg’s message to the federal government to not drag its feet on the MA63 negotiations.
“I concur with Abang Johari’s opinion that what needs to be done is to help make it easier for MA63, on what has been agreed upon, to be implemented.
“That it is not about looking at any opportunities to do any amendment. It’s about understanding the spirit behind MA63,” he said.
But Chin said there are certain things that Abang Johari may find difficult such as taking back control of oil and gas resources, as there is no way the federal government will agree to that.
“The federal government budget is divided into two parts which are recurrent expenditure and developmental budget.
“Development budget in Malaysia is basically money from Petronas, so there is no way they will give that up, no matter what Sarawak does,” he said.
He pointed out that all other things are up for negotiation and the reason why the federal government is slow in arriving at any sort of solution is because of GE15.
He added that a lot of these issues will be resolved after knowing who the federal government is after the next GE15.
“But this represents a danger to Sarawak, because if UMNO or Barisan Nasional (BN) wins by a landslide like what they did in Johor and Melaka, then they don’t need the MPs from Sabah and Sarawak to shore them up.
“If that’s the case, they won’t agree to many things that Sarawak suggested, and Sarawak can only put leverage on the federal government.
“For example UMNO needs the MPs from Sarawak like what they do now to stay in power, and without that leverage, it seems impossible for Sarawak to get concessions from the federal government,” he said.
He said that GE15 will be an interesting one where the country wants a strong government but on the other hand a strong government at Putrajaya with a big majority may not be advantageous to Sarawak.
