KUCHING: Whether state and federal laws can mutually coexist is a subject of considerable debate.
For example, the Commercial Settlement Agreement (CSA) between Petronas and the Sarawak Government shows the co-existence of Sarawak’s Oil and Mining Ordinance (OMO) 1958 and Petroleum Development Act 1974 (PDA 1974) in the spirit of the Federation of Malaysia.
Sarawak Kota Sentosa Assemblyman Wilfred Yap Yau Sin believed so in his talk “A Perspective of State and Federal Laws and the Challenges facing Malaysia as a Federation in light of Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63)” at the Second Borneo States Symposium themed “Realising the Dreams and Visions of the Peoples of the Borneo States”, recently.
Yap said in understanding the concept of a federation, “Britain’s initial idea was to form a ‘super-federation’ consisting of governments of Malaya, Singapore and three British territories – Sabah, Sarawak, and Brunei with complete autonomy in internal affairs by each government.”
“Britain agreed with the federal structure only if the states attained self-rule first.
“Many have interpreted equal partnership based on Article 1 of MA63 in which the 11 states in the then Malaya are seen as representing one component and the other two components being Sabah and Sarawak. Sabah and Sarawak were conferred special powers not accorded to Malayan states.”
The Sarawak Government has insisted that the CSA gave Sarawak regulatory power to manage oil and gas resources within its boundaries, and marks July 22 as its Independence Day.
On 22 July 1963 signifies the day when British governor Alexander Waddell proclaimed Stephen Kalong Ningkan as Sarawak’s first Chief Minister.
The outgoing governor also appointed new Supreme Council members who formed the government’s first ministerial Cabinet of Sarawak.
However, the Federation of Malaysia formed in 1963 came to be an expanded version of the Federation of Malaya to include the new states of Singapore which was expelled in 1965, North Borneo, now Sabah, and Sarawak.
In 2022, an amendment to the Constitution of Malaysia was done with Article 160 (2) of the Federal Constitution amended with the new definition of the term “federation” where the Malaysian Federation is formed in accordance with the Malaysia Agreement 1957 in addition to 1957 Malaya Agreement.
“In 2022, the name of the head of government of Sarawak was changed from ‘Chief Minister’ to ‘Premier’ to reflect the difference of the status of Sarawak within the Federation of Malaysia.”
Yap noted that both Sabah and Sarawak still have considerable power and autonomy in the federation.
Their special position in the federation is part of the conditions set by local leaders before Sabah’s and Sarawak’s incorporation into the Federation of Malaysia.
“The conditions were put forward because Sabah and Sarawak were culturally unique and were less politically and economically advanced than Malaya, and to weigh against possible domination by Peninsular Malaysia.”
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