KUCHING, Aug 17: PBK is seeking a strong mandate from the people to form the next State government come the 12the Sarawak Elections so that the party has power to demand and catapult Sarawak towards independence.
Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) president Voon Lee Shan, in rallying support, has detailed two strategies the party could take to set Sarawak free and independent from the Federation of Malaysia.
“To achieve this legally and peacefully, there are a few strategies that need to be followed.
“For the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI), there are two strategies to choose. That is, either to follow how Singapore or Kosovo did it,” he said in a statement today.
Referring to how former Singapore premier Lee Kuan Yew brought Singapore to independence following failed negotiations between Singapore and Malaya at that time, Voon pointed out that PBK, if it forms the government, will negotiate with the Federal government on terms workable for the Federation if Peninsula Malaysia still wants Sarawak as equal counterpart.
“If Malaya cannot fulfill what we want, then, there is nothing to prevent Sarawak from declaring independence unilaterally. This was what Singapore did.
“Singapore did it after the Independence of Singapore Agreement 1965 was sealed between Malaya and Singapore on Aug 7, 1965.
“I suggest we need not have the Independence of Sarawak Agreement from the federal parliament to do this. If there is an Independence of Sarawak Agreement passed by the federal parliament, this will put Sarawak in a better position to declare independence and the Sarawak Cabinet led by a PBK government can declare independence without going to the Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN).
“The Cabinet decides and like how Lee Kuan Yew did for Singapore, there will be no need for the DUN to decide,” he elaborated.
On the other hand, Voon said Sarawak can also follow the steps of Kosovo in 2008 by taking votes in the Kosovo Assembly to detach herself from the colonial master of Serbia.
He emphasised that the International Court of Justice in 2010 headed by Hisashi Owada made it clear in Kosovo’s case that Kosovo could declare independence unilaterally as international law does not prohibit such a declaration.
“Sarawak can take Kosovo’s case as an international law precedent to declare independence unilaterally in Sarawak DUN without any independence Act passed by the federal parliament,” he added.
Voon also highlighted the case of the Chagos Islands delivered on Feb 25, 2019 by the International Court of Justice, which could be a reference to indicate that the Malaysia Agreement could be declared invalid on the grounds that Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore at the time the Malaysia Agreement was signed were still colonies of the United Kingdom.
“And being still colonies, Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore had no legal capacity to sign the Malaysia Agreement.
“A PBK government can, guided by the Chagos Island case, bring to court to declare the Malaysia Agreement as invalid. If declared invalid, Malaysia has to disintegrate or based on the judgment of the court, PBK government can unilaterally declare Sarawak independent from the Federation of Malaysia.
“I urge Sarawakians to give PBK the mandate to take over from GPS (Gabungan Parti Sarawak) and form the Sarawak government during this coming 12th Sarawak Elections so that PBK shall be able to execute the strategies to set Sarawak free and independent,” said Voon.— DayakDaily
