Abang Johari Tun Openg
CM says negotiation on autonomy complicated, appeals to netizens from spreading rumours on the process
KUCHING: The state government cannot reveal the subject matters being deliberated in the second phase of negotiation on Sarawak’s autonomy with Putrajaya.
Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg said the negotiation was progressing step-by-step and the second phase would be more on financial aspects.
He said it did not help that some quarters, especially netizens, had rumoured about a petition to pave way for the negotiation.
“This will jeopardise the negotiation and the posting (on Facebook) is bad because it jeopardises the perception of the other side (Putrajaya),” he said when met by reporters after launching the Satok Sport Complex and Petra Jaya Futsal Carnival here yesterday.
“Datuk Seri Najib (Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak) has been very open to the negotiation on certain aspects that have been eroded and has agreed to bring it back to the state.
“There are subject matters that we have to negotiate further but he could not disclose any,” Abang Johari said. The negotiation, he added, was a long process and would take time, “ … because a lot of complications involved”.
“Now we are at the second stage which is more on finance. If agreed, the negotiation will proceed to the technical aspect that is under the point of law, constitution and Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).”
Abang Johari hoped that Sarawakians would not be misled by the recent posting, which he described as ‘fake news’.
He said people should not write any statement they wanted that might put the state government in a difficult position.
“The process (of negotiation) is on-going…we just want to get our right back.”
On Friday, Abang Johari’s press secretary Ambrose Cheng lodged a police report against the posting which claimed that a petition had been presented to Queen Elizabeth II for a review of MA63.
The posting further alleged that all State Legislative Assembly members had unanimously agreed to the review, and supported by 630,000 petitioners.
Meanwhile, Abang Johari declined to offer any statement when prompted for comments on the murder case of Kim Jong-nam, the elder half-brother of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Feb 13.
“We’ve got nothing to do with North Korea. Not our jurisdiction,” said the chief minister.