The ongoing court dispute between the Sarawak GPS government and PETRONAS has severely undermined the credibility, authority, and bargaining power of the GPS government in dealing with the Federal Government and PETRONAS. This legal confrontation has exposed the weakness of GPS and its inability to decisively protect Sarawak’s rights and interests over its own oil and gas resources.

Sarawakians on the ground are increasingly frustrated and impatient with the soft, submissive, and non-confrontational stance adopted by the GPS government. Despite repeated advice and warnings from Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK), the GPS government has failed to take the crucial and necessary political step of seeking Parliament to repeal the Petroleum Development Act 1974 (PDA 74), the Territorial Sea Act (TSA), and the Continental Shelf Act (CSA). These federal laws have systematically stripped Sarawak of its sovereign rights over its oil and gas resources.

From what PBK has gathered across Sarawak, there is a growing and unmistakable public sentiment demanding that the GPS government take a firm stand. Sarawakians expect GPS to issue a clear ultimatum to the Federal Government: repeal PDA 74, TSA, and CSA, and return full ownership and control of oil and gas resources to Sarawak — or Sarawak must seriously consider its position within the Federation.

According to a senior lawyer in Malaya, the terms and safeguards of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) have not been fulfilled. On this basis, both Sarawak and Sabah have the legal and constitutional right to decide whether to remain in or withdraw from the Federation of Malaysia. This is not political rhetoric; it is a legal reality arising from decades of breach of MA63.

The GPS government is now widely perceived by Sarawakians as weak, hesitant, and ineffective in confronting the Federal Government and PETRONAS. PBK views this situation with grave concern. Leadership that fails to defend Sarawak’s wealth and future is leadership that has lost its moral authority.

It is estimated that PETRONAS is extracting no less than *850,000 barrels of Sarawak crude oil per day. This means that since the enactment of PDA 74, **tens of billions of ringgit worth of Sarawak’s oil wealth have been taken away*, depriving Sarawakians of development, infrastructure, education, and economic security. This is not merely a financial loss — it is an act of economic injustice against the people of Sarawak.

Most disturbing of all, a senior legal counsel of the Sarawak Government has revealed that the Petroleum Development Bill was never referred to the Sarawak Attorney General’s Chambers at the time of its passage. As a result, the Sarawak State Cabinet was denied proper legal advice before Sarawak’s oil and gas rights were surrendered. This raises a fundamental and troubling question: *Was this not a political robbery of Sarawak’s oil and gas resources by the Federal Government?*

PBK calls upon the GPS government to stop delaying, stop posturing, and stop appeasing federal power. Sarawak’s rights are not negotiable, and Sarawak’s patience is running out. History will judge harshly those who fail to act when Sarawak’s wealth, dignity, and future are at stake.