Ku Li Sudah Mula Memutar Lidahnya?

Beri Kami Galas - Ku Li

KUALA LUMPUR: Selepas PAS meminta supaya Umno tidak bertanding di Galas, kini parti itu pula meminta PAS menyerahkan kerusi Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) berkenaan kepada Barisan Nasional (BN).

Pengarah Pilihan Raya BN bagi DUN Galas, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah berkata, PAS mahu Umno tidak bertanding demi untuk penyatuan Melayu.

Katanya, parti itu sepatutnya tidak perlu bersusah-payah kerana telah memiliki majoriti dua pertiga dalam DUN.

“Menang atau kalah tidak memberi perbezaan kepada PAS. Mereka sepatutnya beri kita kerusi itu percuma," katanya kepada pemberita selepas menghadiri rumah terbuka Kelab Anak-Anak Gua Musang (Kagum) di Bukit Jalil, di sini Ahad.

Ditanya, sama ada PAS sepatutnya berterima kasih dengannya dalam isu royalti minyak, Tengku Razaleigh berkata tiada siapa berhutang dengan sesiapa apa-apa pun.

“Saya ke depan dalam isu itu kerana (Allahyraham) Tun Abdul Razak mahu rakyat di Pantai Timur memperoleh manfaat dari pendapatan minyak," katanya sambil menegaskan bahawa undang-undang berkaitan perkara itu yang digubal dulu telah disalahtafsirkan.

Dalam pada itu, beliau turut meminta Umno membantu bagi mendorong jentera pilihan raya BN untuk pilihan raya kecil Galas yang ditetapkan tarikh penamaannya pada 26 Oktober dan hari mengundi pada 4 November.

"Saya minta pemimpin dalam kerajaan untuk membantu sepenuhnya. Kita perlukan sokongan mereka untuk menguasai kerusi itu," katanya.

ADUN Paloh, Datuk Nozula Mat Diah berkata, PAS tidak banyak menyumbang kepada pengundi di Galas selepas BN tewas di kerusi pada pilihan raya umum lalu.

“Kita yakin dapat merampas kembali kawasan itu dengan majoriti lebih besar. Dulu kawasan ini adalah kubu kuat kita jadi kita tak nampak sebarang masalah besar," jelasnya. Di Kota Baru, Pengerusi Perhubungan Umno, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamad berkata, beliau akan sentiasa bersama-sama membantu Tengku Razaleigh selain menerima arahan-arahan untuk memenangi kerusi berkenaan

"Saya tidak pernah ada apa-apa masalah dengan Tengku Razaleigh. Saya yakin dengan kebijaksanaan dan pengalamannya menjadi pendorong kepada jentera bekerja kuat dan merampas Galas.

“Beliau adalah individu terbaik untuk mengetuai jentera ini berdasarkan pengalaman 50 tahun beliau di Gua Musang,” tegas Mustapa yang juga Timbalan Pengarah pilihan raya BN. -mstar

honouring our agreements

The Government has now responded to Kelantan’s claim to a portion of the profits derived from petroleum resources extracted offshore by PETRONAS.

Its response violates the letter and the intent of a solemn agreement signed between each State Government and PETRONAS under the Petroleum Development Act.

That agreement is made out in language simple enough for a schoolboy to understand, in both Bahasa Malaysia and English.

The Constitutional rights of the people of Kelantan are denied. However this has implications far beyond Kelantan:

1) It negates an agreement signed between the Kelantan Government and PETRONAS. By implication, it negates identical agreements signed by PETRONAS with every other state and deprives the people of their constitutional rights.

2) The Government’s refusal to recognize a straightforward contractual obligation on PETRONAS’s part puts a question mark over the status of oil payments due to the other oil-producing states. The States’ rights to 5% of profit derived from the extraction of any petroleum resources is based on a quid pro quo according to which the States vested entirely and in perpetuity all their rights and claims to petroleum resources to PETRONAS. In return for this PETRONAS is legally bound to pay the states the 5% directly

3) If PETRONAS no longer recognises its legal obligation to pay the States what is due to them under the Petroleum Development Act, the States, and in particular Sabah and Sarawak, will now wonder if the corresponding Vesting Deed by which they vested all their rights in their petroleum resources to PETRONAS remains in force.

4) The Government’s response substitutes for PETRONAS’s legal obligations under the Petroleum Development Act an arbitrary “compassionate payment” from the Federal Government. This casts serious doubt on the Malaysian Government’s respect for the sanctity of contracts and the rule of law. Let’s not talk about spurring investment to take our economy to a higher level if we fail to understand the importance of abiding by contractual obligations.

I helped craft and negotiate the Petroleum Development Act. As Chairman of Petronas, I signed separate and identical agreements in respect of these payments with each of the Mentris Besar of the States. I must insist that PETRONAS is bound by them and that the Federal government should not interfere in their fulfillment.

Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah
Member of Parliament, Gua Musang -razaleigh.com