She was responding to a warning issued by political analyst Awang Azman Pawi of a “mini political tsunami” in Sarawak if the state government, led by Chief Minister Adenan Satem, failed to deliver on election promises.
“As far as the state leaders are concerned, a lot of what was promised has been fulfilled, except for some things that require federal government action.
“Some projects cost so much money that they have to be budgeted for. If they haven’t, you cannot really punish anyone for it.
“We can’t just pluck money from here and there. So we have to be reasonable,” the minister in the prime minister’s department said at a press conference at the One City mall in Subang Jaya today.
Awang’s warning came following criticism levelled at the state government, which includes its U-turn on tabling a motion in the state assembly to restore Sarawak’s status in the federation.
Nancy rubbished this, saying Adenan was still pursuing efforts to restore Sarawak’s autonomy as had been promised in the 1963 Malaysia Agreement.
“It is a process that is still ongoing. The technical committee has sat down (to discuss the matter) and now they have to brief the steering committee which includes Anifah Aman, myself and a few other ministers from Sarawak and Sabah.
“Once they’ve briefed us, then we will bring it to the Cabinet.
“Some of the administrative processes have commenced, just the ones involving the Federal Constitution that have to be identified, and maybe discussed further,” she said.
In last year’s state election, BN won 72 of the 82 seats in the state assembly.
This success was credited to the Adenan factor, which Universiti Sarawak Malaysia political analyst Associate Prof Jeniri Amir recently said might not be enough in the 14th general election.