KUCHING – Power sharing between ethnic groups in Sarawak is one of the issues that Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof must sort out urgently in accordance with the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), said political analyst Prof Datuk Jayum Jawan Empaling.
“It is nice to be recognised as important, hence the appointment (as DPM), especially when you are given the task to expedite all matters related to MA63.
“What is of great importance to Sarawak, which needs to be sorted out according to MA63, is power sharing between ethnic groups in Sarawak.
“The unity government is paving the way and showing Sarawak that moving forward means sharing,” he said when contacted yesterday.
Jayum was asked to comment on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s announcement Monday that he had tasked Fadillah with expediting all matters related to MA63.
“Top posts should be shared and not monopolised as it is now in Sarawak that has been the case since 1970,” he added.
On whether Fadillah and the unity government can accommodate or return all of Sarawak’s constitutional rights under MA63 within the next five years, Jayum said the rights of Sarawak in Malaysia are enshrined in MA63 and there is nothing to return.
The academician from Universiti Putra Malaysia and fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia said the failure of past federal governments to honour MA63 showed that they are bad leaders.
“Anwar promised to do better, let’s wait and see. Fadilah alone can’t do it as he was a federal minister before and there is nothing much for him to show for the time he has been a federal minister,” he added.
Jayum said that five years are not needed for power sharing between Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak and Sabah to be implemented because the chief secretary to the government can appoint five or six Sarawakians to be the secretary-generals of federal ministries, three to five as vice chancellors of public universities, and 20 or 30 as chairs for government-linked companies.
He pointed out that these are all political appointments.
“If Anwar does that, Dayaks will stand firm behind him and come what may, Dayaks fall first before Anwar. And be assured if he does that, Parti Keadilan Rakyat will eclipse all political parties in Sarawak.” – Borneo Post Online, December 7, 2022
