Pakatan says it again: We will revisit 1963 agreement if we win S’wak
Jaqueline Png, Fz.com
Pakatan Rakyat stands by its promise to revisit the 1963 Malaysia Agreement if it wins the next Sarawak state election to correct the federal government’s shortcomings in the state, an opposition lawmaker said today.
Sarawak PKR chief Baru Bian said Pakatan had stated this in the coalition’s election manifesto released in 2012 known as the Kuching Declaration.
Bian was commenting on yesterday’s statement by political analyst Prof James Chin that a slight majority of the people in Sabah and Sarawak preferred to cede from the country as they felt “cheated” because Putrajaya’s development promises fell short.
“I can identify with such sentiments with Sarawakians. After more than 50 years being in Malaysia, we have not achieved the same level of development as in the peninsula,” Bian told reporters at a PKR event here.
According to him, many Sarawakians felt that they were doing far worse now compared to the time they joined the federation.
“The issues they feel concerned about include getting 5% of the petroleum profit, development in rural areas, sufficient medical services, schools and basic amenities,” he said.
The solution to this is for the people in the state to bring Pakatan into power.
Last week, Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud has announced that he will step down on Feb 28 after ruling the state for more than 30 years.
