PRS: Federal govt must be constitutionally honest on MA63, oil and gas

Christopher Gira Sambang. Photo credit: PRS

By DayakDaily Team

KUCHING, Jan 27: Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) has called on the federal government to be “constitutionally honest” in justifying its control over Sarawak’s oil and gas resources, saying such authority cannot be traced back to the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) or the Federal Constitution as originally designed.

Its Chief of Youth and Tamin assemblyman, Christopher Gira Sambang, said claims that MA63 “has nothing to say” about oil and gas are not valid legal arguments but a narrowing exercise aimed at avoiding constitutional consequences.

“MA63 was never intended as a technical statute regulating specific industries. It was a founding agreement that determined how sovereignty, legislative power and economic control would be divided within the Federation,” he said in a statement.

Gira said MA63 derives its legal force from its incorporation into the Federal Constitution and must be interpreted according to its original intent, not selectively applied to deny state rights.

Under the Constitution, he said, land and natural resources fall under the State List, a position that has remained unchanged since 1963.

“For Sabah and Sarawak, these powers are further protected by Article 95D, which provides that federal laws on State List matters do not apply unless adopted by the State Legislative Assemblies,” he said.

Gira emphasised that oil and gas lie beneath land, which he said has never been federal property.

“If the federal government had original constitutional ownership over petroleum, there would have been no need for the Petroleum Development Act 1974 (PDA 1974). The Act exists precisely because ownership was not federal to begin with,” he said.

He added that Sarawak’s position is even clearer as the State had the Oil Mining Ordinance 1958 prior to the formation of Malaysia, which vested full authority over petroleum in the State government and “was never lawfully repealed”.

According to Gira, the establishment of Petroleum Sarawak Berhad (Petros) and the enactment of Sarawak’s gas laws are not acts of defiance against the Federation.

“They are exercises of powers that were never lawfully extinguished,” he said.

Gira also questioned what he described as inconsistency on the part of the federal government in interpreting MA63.

“When MA63 is said to be ‘silent’, we are told silence means no entitlement. Yet when MA63 and the Constitution speak expressly, they are ignored — as seen in Sabah’s 40 per cent entitlement, which had to be enforced through the courts,” he said.

Stressing that the issue is not about opposing the Federation, Gira said it is about upholding constitutional integrity.

“This is not about opposing the Federation. It is about constitutional honesty,” he said.

“If the federal government wishes to justify its control over Sarawak’s oil and gas, it should do so openly — by admitting that such control rests on post-1963 legislation and political arrangements, not on MA63 or the Constitution as originally designed.”

Gira said PRS stands firmly with the Sarawak government in defending the State’s rights under MA63. — DayakDaily