Kuching: DAPSY Sarawak secretary George Lam urged SUPP Youth to focus on monitoring and pressuring GPS’s Federal Cabinet members, and to demand real results for Sarawak’s oil rights instead of continuing to waste energy attacking DAP Sarawak Members of Parliament (MPs).
Lam said this in response to a call by SUPP Youth chief Kevin Lau, who urged DAP Sarawak MPs to fight for Sarawak’s oil rights.
“On the issue of safeguarding Sarawak’s oil rights, SUPP Youth only dares to attack DAP Sarawak, yet consistently avoids directing its voice at the 23 Sarawak MPs from GPS.
“Such selective criticism clearly sidesteps those who hold power. More ironically, they seem to deliberately ignore a historical fact – it was SUPP itself that supported the move which handed Sarawak’s oil rights over to the Federal Government,” he said in a statement.
Lam stressed that DAP Sarawak has always stood firm in fully supporting Sarawak’s rightful oil rights under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
“This position has never been in doubt. However, we must return to political reality – DAP Sarawak MPs currently do not hold any Cabinet positions.
“Any proposal involving amendments to federal laws must rightfully come from Sarawak leaders who sit in the Cabinet and be tabled in Parliament through legislation,” he said.
He emphasised that GPS is the one that truly holds Cabinet power.
“Laws are not amended through slogans, but by raising proposals in the Cabinet and completing the process in Parliament,” he said.
Lam noted that the GPS holds the position of Deputy Prime Minister and has five Federal Ministers.
“If they truly have the political will and courage, they could have raised the proposal directly in the Cabinet to amend the law and return Sarawak’s oil rights.
“Yet SUPP Youth conveniently ignores this key fact and instead chooses to target DAP Sarawak MPs who hold no Cabinet posts,” he said.
He also referred to the Petroleum Development Act 1974, stating that SUPP had supported the Federal Government in passing the legislation.
“Even if SUPP now chooses to avoid this chapter of history, the people remember clearly. It was precisely because of that support that the Act was passed, leading to the series of oil rights disputes that Sarawak faces today.
“History cannot be rewritten, nor can it be selectively forgotten,” he said.
