WICKED POLITICAL OPPORTUNISTS are trying to create animosity and friction

WICKED POLITICAL OPPORTUNISTS are trying to create animosity and friction

Chief Minister Adenan Satem’s Chief Political Secretary Abdullah Saidol has charged that “wicked political opportunists” are trying to create animosity and friction between the Sarawak and Federal governments.

Abdullah reminded that Adenan had pledged many times that Sarawak, having helped form Malaysia, would remain in the federation.

He added that opportunists were taking advantage of Adenan’s frankness for political reasons.

“Obviously, they have no genuine issues of their own,” he was quoted as saying by the Borneo Post.

Abdullah, also Barisan Nasional Backbenchers Club (BNBBC) Sarawak chairman, said political opportunists were manipulating the chief minister’s statements.

“Adenan’s candid and tough statements are in good faith, nothing else but in the interest of the state and Sarawakians,” he said.

It was wrong to assume the Sarawak Government’s relationship with the Federal Government was “going negative”, continued Abdullah.

A statement from the Chief Minister’s Office on Monday reiterated that Sarawak would never secede from Malaysia. “That doesn’t mean the state cannot fight for its rights,” the statement added in a caveat.

Sarawak’s rights, it added, were enshrined in the Federal Constitution, the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), the Malaysia Act, the Inter-Governmental Committee Report, and the Cobbold Commission Report.

The statement was referring to a social media posting claiming that Adenan had attributed the many ills affecting the country to the Federal Government and Umno.

The posting, said the Chief Minister’s Office, reportedly originated from the “Sarawak Keluar Malaysia 2021” Facebook Account.

“The posting claimed the Chief Minister was threatening to secede from Malaysia if all the alleged problems are not solved,” said the Chief Minister’s Office.

The statement categorically denied the chief minister had ever made any public statement “to this effect”.

It described the posting as “grossly wrong and a blatant act” to put the chief minister in a bad light in the eyes of the Federal Government.