Sarawak CM: Don’t let outside political parties decide Sarawak’s future

Sarawak chief minister says only Sarawakians should decide fate of the state, not the DAP, PKR or even Umno

SIBU: No political party from outside Sarawak, including Umno, can determine the future of the state, said Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg.

He said only the state-based parties led by Sarawakians themselves could decide and set the direction as to where the state would head to.

“We must be united. Only Sarawak leaders can determine the future of Sarawak. Only Sarawakians, nobody else,” he said at a Chinese New Year celebration organised by the United Chinese Associations (UCA) Sibu here last night.

Opposition parties such as the DAP and PKR, he said, were irrelevant as far as Sarawak was concerned.

In another development, Abang Johari said the people of Sarawak should embrace the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) and the digital age to achieve the goal of making Sarawak a developed state by 2030.

He also touched on the setting up of the Upper Rajang Development Agency (URDA) to oversee the development of Kapit Division and some part of Kanowit and Bintulu.

The Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) president and state Barisan Nasional chairman also said the state government would continue with efforts to reclaim the state’s rights and power under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).

The efforts would be carried out within the perimeters of the law and the constitution of the country, not based on emotion or personal interest, he added.

He said Prime Minister Najib Razak had responded positively to the matter at the PBB convention last week by announcing the setting up of a high level committee at the federal level to negotiate with the state.