KUCHING: Two state-based opposition parties have different opinions over an offer by DAP to grant more autonomy and revenue to Sabah and Sarawak in a ‘new deal’ if Pakatan Harapan were to win the next general election.
Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak Baru (PBDS Baru) believed the peninsula-based DAP would deliver its promise but Sarawak Reform Party (Reform) feared the offer would be mere lip service .
PBDS Baru president Cobbold John Lusoi believed DAP leaders understood and recognized the terms and conditions in the Malaysia Agreement under which the two Borneo states agreed to the formation of Malaysia in 1963.
“I have no doubt that the party meant what it pledged to do because its leaders have always been consistent on this autonomy issue,” he said yesterday.
However, Reform president Lina Soo shot down such offer and questioned the ‘new deal’ offered by DAP through secretary general Lim Guan Eng.
“It is mere lip service. This is because autonomy is inbuilt in Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), so no one can ‘offer’ what is already in there.
“Lim Guan Eng has no authority or power to grant autonomy, and is not in any position to promise anything to Sarawak and Sabah,” she said.
She pointed out that the MA63 is an international treaty and has nothing to do with Guan Eng, who is Penang Chief Minister.
On Guan Eng’s proposal for a new federalism, Soo reminded that a new federalism would mean a new Agreement and all the partner signatories – the governments of Britain, Malaya, Sarawak, Sabah and Singapore – will have to go back to the negotiation table in London to work out a new arrangement for a new federalism.
“Not DAP or Penang which is not signatory to the Malaysia Agreement.
“If Lim Guan Eng is sincere, he should observe Sarawak and Sabah autonomous political rights by pulling his party out and let local parties fight Barisan National in the two states,” she said.
Guan Eng had said in his policy speech at the DAP national conference in Shah Alam on Sunday that DAP wants to offer more autonomy and revenue to Sabah and Sarawak in a ‘new deal’ that will also restore their status as equal partners in the formation of Malaysia.
The ‘New Deal’ offered by DAP is part of the DAP@50 Declaration adopted by the party yesterday as it marked its 50th anniversary this year.
He also had said that Sabah and Sarawak have become ‘victims’ of an over-centralised federal government under Barisan Nasional’s rule, which he said had caused East Malaysians to be deeply disappointed and deprived.
“DAP is committed to offer a New Deal for Sabah and Sarawak that recognises the equal partner status of Sabah and Sarawak in the federation, as well as to decentralise powers and tax revenue that is reasonable for their rakyat,” he was reported to have said.
Guan Eng also mentioned that under the proposed framework of New Federalism, Sabah and Sarawak shall enjoy a wide range of autonomy in community policing, health, education, transport, as well as enjoying a sizable share of tax revenue.
“Such a New Federalism framework can also apply to Johor, Selangor, Kelantan and Penang,” he was also quoted as saying in Malay Mail Online.