PAS: Giving up oil to Brunei unconstitutional
By Rahmah Ghazali, Free Malaysia Today
It is “unconstitutional” for the federal government to surrender two oil blocks to Brunei a year ago under former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s tenure, PAS vice-president Mahfuz Omar said today.
According to the Pokok Sena PAS MP, the government had violated Article 2 of the Federal Constitution for giving away the oil-producing offshore area in the South China Sea, namely Block L and Block M (now known as CA1 and CA2) to the oil-rich country.
Article 2 states that Parliament may by law admit other states to the federation of Malaysia or alter the boundaries of any state. However, the provision also states that any law altering a state’s boundaries shall not be passed without the consent of the state’s legislature and the consent of the Conference of Rulers.
“So, did the federal government get the state assembly’s approval?” he asked, adding that the Cabinet should explain which legal provision it used to give up its claim over the oil blocks.
Mahfuz also said that Abdullah should not be blamed solely on the matter as the decision was made collectively through the Cabinet.
“I am questioning the Cabinet, not just Pak Lah (Abdullah’s nickname). The Cabinet has to be responsible too for making such decision,” he said, adding that Abdullah’s successor, Najib Tun Razak, should also be responsible for it.
“The then deputy prime minister (Najib) has to be responsible because it was decided by the Cabinet and he was part of the Cabinet then,” said Mahfuz.
The revelation was first reported in the Financial Edge Daily and Brunei Times that Abdullah surrendered the two blocks to Brunei in return for the country to drop its claim on Limbang, Sarawak.
However, Mahfuz said, Brunei has yet to back down over the claim.
“In the agreement, the federal government should have defended its claim over both Limbang and the oil blocks. We are talking about our nation’s integrity here,” said Mahfuz.
He urged that a special parliamentary sitting be called to discuss the matter and he had directed the party’s legal team to look into any potential legal action that can be filed against the federal government.
According to former prime minister and Abdullah’s predecessor, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the former’s action has caused Malaysia to lose at least about RM320 billion of the country’s oil in this agreement.
