Sarawak DAP leader Chong Chieng Jen said SUPP must shoulder the blame for past policy changes.
“Before even talking about the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and Sarawak autonomy, SUPP and Sarawak BN should first apologise to the people for the erosion of Sarawak’s rights over the past 53 years,” Chong told reporters at the party’s headquarters here today.
SUPP joined the National Alliance (the predecessor of Barisan Nasional) in 1970 and was part of the federal and state government.
SUPP has since had representation in both the federal and state Cabinets.
“SUPP has proven to be a party with leaders who in the past were prepared to sacrifice Sarawak’s rights for their ministerial posts in Barisan Nasional,” Chong said.
“What assurance can the people of Sarawak have that their present leaders are not the same breed as their predecessors?”
Chong referred to the Petroleum Development Act 1974, which took away Sarawak’s rights over oil and gas, and reduced its revenues to the current level of 5%.
Chong said the Act was done with the consent of the BN state government, which SUPP was a part of.
Chong also referred to the early 1980s, when the state’s English-medium school system switched to Bahasa Malaysia, which Chong said was done with the consent of the BN state government.
He added that stamp duties payable for the transfer of landed property in Sarawak, which were supposed to be paid to the state, were paid to the Federal Government. This occurred when the Sarawak finance minister was SUPP’s former President George Chan, he alleged.
He added that the passing of the National Security Council Act, which gives the prime minister and a handful of federal officers in high posts the absolute right to declare any region as a security area and to impose martial law, also occurred under the watch of the BN government.
“All these were just a few examples of the major erosion of Sarawak’s rights.
“In addition to these, there was the annual grossly unfair allocation of development expenditure for Sarawak, which has taken place since the formation of Malaysia till this day. All these were done with the consent of the state government, which SUPP was a part of,” Chong said.
“Therefore, to show its sincerity about wanting to fight for Sarawak’s rights, SUPP must first apologise to all Sarawakians for the wrongs that the party has been a party to in the past half century.”
Chong added that the “sell-out” of Sarawak’s rights by SUPP and Sarawak BN in the past half-century was possible because there was no strong Opposition in the Sarawak state assembly and in Parliament to represent Sarawak.
“Thus, the SUPP and BN leaders could do as they like without the rakyat even knowing about it.
“Therefore, to protect Sarawak’s rights and that of the ordinary Sarawakian there is a need to have a strong Opposition in the state assembly and in Parliament, failing which history will just repeat itself,” Chong said.