By Lian Cheng
KUCHING, Feb 23: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (BDP) should not interfere in Sarawak’s affairs and if it has too much free time, it should try to help Peninsular Malaysia clean its mess first, said Sarawak Housing and Real Estate Developers’ Association (Sheda) advisor Datuk William Wei.
Wei said it is Sarawak’s right enshrined under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) that Sarawak is a partner in the formation of Federation Malaysia and not a state.
“For the Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUN) to come up with the designation of ‘Premier’ to differentiate Sarawak from other states in Peninsular Malaysia is an act of upholding Sarawak’s position and status as guaranteed by the treaty.
“The BDP should not have interfered in Sarawak’s affairs. In view that Peninsular Malaysia’s politics is now chaotic and messy, if BDP has time to spare, it should look into ways to fix the political situation there.
“Let Sarawakians handle Sarawak’s affairs,” Wei told DayakDaily.
Wei said this in response to DBP’s board of control chairman Prof Datuk Awang Sariyan’s statement which urged Sarawak to reconsider its decision to change the title of its state government leader from ‘Chief Minister’ to ‘Premier’.
Awang said there were long term implications to the use of the term, one of which was creating the perception that there was a prime minister at the state level.
Another implication, he said was that the concept of federalism, which is the basis of the Malaysian Federation, will be affected and this needed to be examined carefully.
Meanwhile, Dayak Bidayuh National Association (DBNA) president Datuk Ik Pahon also held the view that the change of title from ‘Chief Minister’ to ‘Premier’ is to denote Sarawak’s status as one of the regions or ‘Wilayah’ in the formation of Malaysia.
“And it’s in line with the MA63 spirit,” said Ik. — DayakDaily
