Sarawak petroleum suit risks ‘constitutional lock-in’ if it fails, warns PBK president

MIRI (Feb 27): Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) has warned that the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government’s landmark Federal Court challenge over Sarawak’s petroleum rights carries risks “as grave as the injustice it seeks to correct”.

PBK president Voon Lee Shan proposed that the Petroleum Development Act (PDA) 1974 be repealed instead to pave the way for a new petroleum framework based on partnership rather than subordination, recognising Sarawak’s ownership rights.

He cautioned that a defeat at the Federal Court would not merely represent a legal setback.

“If Sarawak loses in the Federal Court, the decision will not simply be a political setback — it will become a constitutional lock,” he said in a statement.

While Voon stopped short of opposing the legal action outright, he stressed that Sarawakians are being asked to accept enormous constitutional risk without clarity on contingency plans should the challenge fail.

Central to PBK’s concern, Voon said, is what he described as a “deeply unequal risk structure” that favours Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) regardless of the apex court’s ruling.

He argued that if Putrajaya succeeds the status quo remains ― production sharing contracts stay valid, commercial arrangements continue uninterrupted, and federal control over Sarawak’s petroleum resources remains intact.

Conversely, he said even a favourable ruling for Sarawak would not automatically resolve operational and contractual complexities, as existing agreements and arbitration clauses would remain legally binding, and dependence on existing infrastructure would not disappear overnight.

“In both scenarios, Petronas survives. But Sarawak risks constitutional finality,” he said.

Voon, a lawyer by profession, further pointed out that an adverse ruling would not only preserve the current arrangement but also validate federal petroleum ownership with the full weight of a Federal Court constitutional decision, making it harder to reverse than the political and historical grievances Sarawak currently relies on to press its case.

He thus called on GPS to clarify its contingency plan in the event of a loss, including a legislative roadmap, political fallback strategy, referendum mandate, and comprehensive economic risk assessment before proceeding further with the petition.

“The people of Sarawak must not be kept in the dark,” he said.

Voon also warned that pursuing a court case without a parallel political mobilisation strategy is “risky”, saying his preference is for the PDA 1974 to be repealed entirely rather than reinterpreted by the judiciary.

He said should the Federal Court rule against Sarawak, the struggle should shift to constitutional amendment campaigns, building a fresh political mandate, raising international awareness of Malaysia Agreement 1963 obligations, asserting state-level regulatory and taxation powers, and exploring self-determination mechanisms within constitutional processes.

“Sarawak must never surrender its resource rights through judicial finality,” Voon added.