‘MA63 is Malaysia’s birth certificate, safeguards Sarawak’s O&G rights’ – Bandar Kuching MP

Dr Kelvin Yii

By DayakDaily Team

KUCHING, Jan 29: Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii today reminded Parliament that the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) is not just a historical document but Malaysia’s “birth certificate” and the legal foundation that guarantees Sarawak’s autonomy and rights over its oil and gas (O&G) resources.

Speaking during the debate on the motion of thanks for the Royal Address, Yii rejected claims that Sarawak’s O&G rights are unclear under MA63, saying it is a fundamental misunderstanding of how a constitutional compact works to argue that the Agreement is irrelevant to natural resources simply because the words “oil and gas” do not appear verbatim.

“Such a narrow reading is strategically incomplete and overlooks the true purpose of MA63, which was never meant to list every sector, but to preserve Sarawak’s autonomy and equal status as a founding partner of Malaysia.

“Let us be clear: MA63 was never a statute about pipelines or drilling licences. It is Malaysia’s birth certificate,” Yii said.

He further said MA63 must be read together with the full body of founding documents, particularly the Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) Report on which it was based, as these collective agreements set out how sovereignty, legislative powers and economic control were to be divided.

He added that the legal force of these arrangements is entrenched in the Federal Constitution itself.

“The Federal Constitution is clear: land and natural resources are State matters. This was true in 1963, and it remains true today. For Sabah and Sarawak, this is further protected by specific safeguards such as Article 95D,” he added.

Turning to petroleum specifically, Yii stressed that oil and gas are not abstract resources but are found beneath land and the seabed, which fall under State jurisdiction.

“If the federal government had original constitutional ownership over petroleum, there would have been no need for the Petroleum Development Act 1974 or the Territorial Sea Act 2012,” he said.

According to Yii, the existence of these Acts shows that Parliament legislated to acquire control, rather than to confirm rights that already existed.

As such, he said Sarawak’s enforcement of its rights under the Oil Mining Ordinance 1958 should not be seen as an act of defiance, but as a lawful continuation of the State’s original powers and sovereignty.

At the same time, Yii noted that some aspects of the dispute are currently before the courts and said the judiciary is the appropriate forum to determine the correct constitutional interpretation of MA63 and Sarawak’s rights.

“I am confident in the rights we have and we await the court’s decision,” he said.

He stressed that no rational territory would enter a federation only to surrender its core sovereignty and natural resources without clear and binding terms.

“Acts of Parliament cannot override the constitutional structure. Political convenience cannot defeat founding terms. Gradual centralisation does not erase original sovereignty.

“Sarawak and Sabah’s rights are not a request. They are a constitutional inheritance, born from sovereign ownership that was never surrendered.

“We are not asking above and beyond, but what is afforded and promised to our forefathers during the formation of Malaysia,” he emphasised.

Yii was responding to recent remarks by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform), who reportedly suggested that Sarawak’s O&G rights are not expressly stated in MA63. – DayakDaily