By Lian Cheng
KUCHING, Oct 29: Sarawak DAP chief Chong Chieng Jen said Pakatan Harapan (PH) representatives in the Steering Committee (SC), formed to restore the rights of Sabah and Sarawak as enshrined in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), would not adopt “the majority bully” attitude, unlike in the Sarawak Legislative Assembly.
He believed that because the Sarawak Legislative Assembly always takes on “the majority bully” attitude, that was why Gabungan Parti Sarawak president Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg “panicked” when he found himself to be the minority in the SC.
“The number (of representatives) in the SC is not important. The SC is not about we vote by majority, (or) the rise of hands. (It is) not (about) you are the minority, that is.
“The whole problem lies with the attitude of BN (Barisan Nasional) Sarawak, especially GPS (Gabungan Parti Sarawak) now. They think that the majority must always have its way. It happens in DUN (Sarawak Legislative Assembly), where they are the majority. That is why they always have the view that the majority can bully the minority.
“When he (Abang Johari) is in the minority, he panicked. Even before the first meeting being set up, he chickens out,” Chong told reporters after witnessing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony between Polarwood Sdn Bhd and its three major tenants at Sentosa Parade this morning.
Chong said the SC consisted of eight representatives from Peninsular Malaysia and eight from Sarawak and Sabah.
“And Sabah is likely to stand on our side, Sarawak’s side, because we share the same common interests and a common goal.
“It is not the matter of majority always has its way. It depends on how you articulate, like what we did before we came out with the finalised manifesto,” said Chong, who is also Deputy Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister.
He said being the minority, Sarawak DAP was able to fight for 20 per cent oil and gas royalty and 50 per cent tax revenue to be given to Sarawak with the conditions that Sarawak be responsible for education and healthcare.
“I don’t know why they (Sarawak Government) rejected it. Because of their own ego or because it is coming from me (that) that the Sarawak government can’t accept, but at the end of the day, they have to go round the long way, now going to the steering committee and go to talk to Tun M (Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad),” said Chong.
Abang Johari has called for a fair representation within the SC, where he described its composition as “lopsided”. He said the representation should be modelled after the Inter-government Committee Report (IGC Report), where the signatories of the Malaysia Agreement (MA63) — Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak — had exactly the same number of representatives. — DayakDaily
