He said the Dewan Rakyat’s Hansard showed that Sarawak MPs were actively involved in debating the bill and ultimately supported its passage.

“The Act was debated for three days and was tabled by a Sarawak MP,” he said in a podcast with former law minister Zaid Ibrahim today.

“At least 20 MPs from Sarawak voted in favour of it. If you look at the Hansard, all Sarawak MPs spoke at length about the bill and supported it.”

Azhar said this proves that the PDA was never imposed on Sarawak by the federal government, but was instead passed with the participation and agreement of the state’s representatives in Parliament.

“So, if anyone now says the PDA goes against MA63, I think that argument is inaccurate as Sarawak MPs supported it,” he said.

He added that parliamentary records play a key role in preventing facts from being distorted by political narratives.

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Sarawak premier Abang Johari Openg said they had agreed on the state-owned Petros being the sole aggregator of gas in the state, while both governments would recognise the PDA as “a federal Act as stated in the provisions of the law”.