KUCHING, Feb 19: PBK president Voon Lee Shan opines that SUPP was partly responsible for Umno controlling Malaysia and the loss of oil and gas rights to the federal government.
In a statement, he noted that on February 11, 1971, former Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) president Ong Kee Hui was invited by hen Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein to join the latter’s cabinet in the National Alliance government.
“Razak needed Ong Kee Hui in the cabinet as the five SUPP MP votes were needed by the National Alliance to get its two-thirds majority in Parliament.
“My analysis — by joining the National Alliance (later rebranded as National Front or Barisan Nasional), SUPP gave Umno (United Malays National Organisation) the iron fist to control Parliament,” according to Voon.
Voon who is a former Batu Lintang assemblyman, also opined that SUPP’s participation in the federal government until 2018 also saw the erosion of many Sabah and Sarawak rights including the passing of the Petroleum Development Act 1974 and the Territorial Sea Act 2012.
“These Acts led to the loss of Sabah’s and Sarawak’s oil and gas resources and their marine wealth to Malaya.
“The participation of SUPP in the federal government caused many miseries to both Borneo states. SUPP has a lot to explain to the Sarawak people because SUPP’s participation in the federal government also saw the status of Sarawak being reduced to become one of the states within Malaysia.
“With SUPP in the federal government, Chinese education also suffered a major setback when a federal court ruling in 1982 held that Merdeka University promoted by the Chinese community was against Article 152(1) of the federal constitution,” the Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) chief opined. — DayakDaily
