KUCHING: As debates over the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) and petroleum rights continue to surface, Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg has sought to bring the conversation back to something simpler: the law.
Amid claims that Sarawak is taking advantage of political uncertainty in Putrajaya to press for greater concessions, he said the state’s position has never been shaped by who sits in the prime minister’s chair, but by the need for stability and respect for long-standing agreements.
“For the past three prime ministers, Sarawak has supported any prime minister who can give a stable government. That has always been Sarawak’s position,” he said during a forum session at the Sarawak Budget Conference 2026.
To him, the often-heated PETRONAS-PETROS debate is less about power and more about process.
He said Sarawak is not rewriting the rules, but following them, a distinction he believes is sometimes lost in public discourse.
“When we talk about the PETRONAS-PETROS issue, it is nothing more than what is written in the law and what is our right,” he said, adding that the state continues to work with both federal and state stakeholders within existing legal boundaries.
Abang Johari reminded the audience that MA63 is not an abstract political slogan but a formal agreement recognised internationally.
Registered with the United Nations, it reflects commitments made by the federal government of Malaya, the British government, and the governments of Sabah and Sarawak at the formation of Malaysia.
“That right is part of the agreement that we have to execute. So there should not be any controversy because everything is already there,” Abang Johari reiterated.
He then walked through the legal basis underpinning Sarawak’s stance, pointing to the Petroleum Development Act and the Petroleum Mining Act 1963.
While PETRONAS is empowered to manage petroleum resources, he explained, those powers are not without limits.
Under Section 14 of the Petroleum Mining Act, permission is required to enter allotted land, a provision that effectively places activities on Sarawak land under the state government’s consent.
“This is federal law. It is what is written in the law, and I am simply executing the law,” Abang Johari said.
He also addressed a common misconception about constitutional authority.
Although mining is listed under federal jurisdiction, he said it remains subject to state rights, a balance designed to protect the interests of both levels of government.
He stressed that Sarawak’s actions are not driven by confrontation or political manoeuvring, but by a belief in orderly governance.
“Sarawak is not asking for anything arbitrarily. We are acting according to the law,” he said, adding that the principle aligns with the Rukun Negara, which places the rule of law at the heart of the nation’s values.
