‘Sarawak will not yield’: Pundit questions PETRONAS’ standing to challenge State in court

Dato Peter Minos

By DayakDaily Team

KUCHING, Mar 17: ‘Sarawak will not yield’—so said political pundit Dato Peter Minos in response to reports that PETRONAS has obtained leave from the Federal Court of Malaysia to proceed with a constitutional challenge against several Sarawak laws on oil and gas.

In a statement, Minos noted that while PETRONAS is a financial giant fully backed by the federal government, he wondered if it has the loci standi (a place of standing) to challenge Sarawak in court.

“If it is the federal government which brings the Sarawak government to court, that I can accept and understand. But not PETRONAS, a company, mighty it may be,” he said.

However, Minos said that Sarawak will continue to stand tall and said that Sarawakians will rally behind the State government.

“Sarawak will stand and defend itself. Sarawak—a huge province and once a proud sovereign country—cannot yield to companies,” he said.

On Monday (Mar 16), it was reported that PETRONAS has been granted leave by the Federal Court of Malaysia to pursue a constitutional challenge against several Sarawak laws governing oil and gas matters.

The decision was made by Chief Judge of Malaya Datuk Seri Hashim Hamzah, who sat as a single judge and ruled that PETRONAS had met the legal threshold for the court to hear its petition.

In response, Sarawak is set to re-argue its landmark Federal Court case challenging the validity and continued enforcement of federal petroleum laws in the State, following the court’s ruling that the matter is legally arguable.

State legal counsel Dato Sri Fong Joo Chung confirmed that his office is ready to re-argue the case before a full bench of judges, after the court ruled that the matter is legally arguable.

PETRONAS filed its legal reference on Jan 10, seeking clarity on the petroleum operational framework under Article 4(4) of the Federal Constitution.

At the same time, Sarawak filed a petition challenging the validity and continued enforcement of three federal laws: the Petroleum Development Act 1974, the Continental Shelf Act 1966, and the Petroleum Mining Act 1966. — DayakDaily