The Federal Government must be aware that Sarawakians are united on this issue and will not be treated as poor cousins any longer, he added in a statement.

“It’s within Chief Minister Adenan Satem’s power to direct Sarawak MPs in the Barisan Nasional (BN) to submit a motion on the pre-1976 status,” said Baru, also Ba’Kelalan assemblyman and Sarawak PKR chairman.

“We wait with great anticipation to see what unfolds.”

He pledged that on his part, “we will encourage PKR MPs to support such a motion in Parliament”.

“PKR MP Johari Abdul has spoken up on this issue several times.”

Baru, a senior practising lawyer, said he was encouraged by Adenan’s statement in Borneo Post on Monday about his determination to reclaim Sarawak’s rights from the Federal Government.

On autonomy and oil royalties, said Baru, the chief minister was “unable to unilaterally take what we want”.

However, said the state lawmaker, helping reverse the 1976 amendment to the Federal Constitution was within Adenan’s power.

On reclaiming Sarawak’s rights, Adenan has been the most vocal in the BN camp, “taking on what we have advocated since 2011”, conceded Baru.

He’s very interested to hear what the leaders of BN component parties in Sarawak have to say on the 1976 amendment.