Oil Forum in Kota Bharu
One of the largest gatherings ever seen in Kota Bharu's stadium. The people demand what is rightfully theirs.
(Note: you can view this speech on my youtube channel)
At 9pm tonight, I will be addressing the people of Kelantan at the Stadium Sultan Muhamad Ke IV, on the oil royalties that are their sovereign right.
I have written on this issue before.
http://razaleigh.com/2009/11/28/oil-payments/
http://razaleigh.com/2009/07/31/letter-to-mb-of-kelantan-on-oil-royalties/
The larger issue is State rights. Malaysia is a Federation of sovereign states. The Federal government has no rights over any petroleum resources except where these have been assigned to the Federal Government by the respective state governments. The novel mechanism we created for this assignment was Petronas.
The states vested all their rights in their petroleum resources in perpetuity to this entity incorporated under the Companies Act. In return Petronas bound itself to pay the respective state 5% of the profit oil from any oil found on or offshore of the state. I signed those undertakings with the Menteri Besar of each of the states.
Petronas is all about the Federation of Malaysia. It was formed to strengthen and protect the Federation. In founding it we intended to strike a balance which ensured that while respecting the sovereign rights of the individual states over their oil resources, all the citizens of the country, no matter what state they lived in, had some part in the bounty of oil.
Sarawak and Sabah shared their oil bounty in the spirit of strengthening the Federation. The arrangement struck with those states was extended to all the other states on the principle of kesaksamaan, or fairness.
By ignoring both the letter and the spirit of those agreements, the Federal government sets aside the very purpose of Petronas. More importantly there is a failure to understand the origin of Federal powers over state resources. We have forgotten that the states existed prior to the Federation. The Federation only exists because the states were willing to vest their rights in it, such as their rights in oil.
Not the other way around. The Federation itself rests on the principle of fairness to all the states, and to all our citizens, wherever they live. When the government of the day ignores this principle, it is ignoring a basic principle holding our country together.
There has been too much centralization of power in the federal government. Powers functions and rights that belong to the states must be restored to them.
Here are the Vesting Deeds I referred to:-
[...] he had written in his blog: The larger issue is State rights. Malaysia is a Federation of sovereign states. The Federal [...]
Ku Li: “We demand what is rightfully ours” « anilnetto.com
January 29, 2010 at 2:41 am
This shows how you, Tengku Razaleigh inspired a plan for UMNO to steal oil rights from the states like Kelantan using a lackey MB from Berjasa. Tengku razaleigh probably schemed this as some of the terengganu oil field lies in Kelantan territory, which they knew, will be governed by PAS in the next election, and the likelihood of PAS dominating in Teregganu as well. Imagine coming up with a agreement whereby all the states mineral wealth, falls into the hands of the PM (one person), who controls Petronas.
Are we then suppose to be surprise that Putrajaya, twin towers, Bak bumi bailouts etc used these mineral wealth from poorer regions to support bumis in richer areas? No wonder the wealth margins between rich and poor are growing.
And will these state that supported Petronas with the oil and gas wealth benefit from the new found oil fields in sudan and Iraq? I doubt it. The only guys who benefit are the guys managing these resources in the twin towers and Putrajaya politicians.
sputjam
January 29, 2010 at 10:44 am
A solid and inspired speech Tengku. Please note that a lot of people are pinning are their hopes on the nation on your shoulder. I fully support you Tengku to finally give this great country the leader she deserves.
Wenger J Khairy
January 29, 2010 at 2:44 pm
YAM Tengku,
Rules of Laws must be honoured to ensure the Rights of The Parties are protected. It is due to Absolute Power and Culture of Patronage that breed blurred Rights with Rights of The States being subrogated to The Master.
Perhaps YAM Tengku could enlighten The Rakyat on whether Royalties according to the Agreement penned were paid to The State Government during the period when Kelantan was under the Federal Regime.
The Rakyat had spoken at 308 and events subsequent to 308 mirror the lack of political will of both BN and Pakatan to bring REAL CHANGE to navigate our beloved country to meet the challenges of Globalisation.
BN and Pakatan are the current 2 platforms for politicians to Corridor of Power but the REAL POWER is UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLES of RIGHTS and WRONGS which are time tested.
The steadfast stand behind party’s line to the extend of “Blind Royalty” at the expense of ISSUES CENTERED for THE RAKYAT, at best drummed up VOICES of PARTY MEMBERS to DECEIT REAL SUPPORT and VOICE of THE RAKYAT.
The WORLD is at CONSTANT CHANGE so is MALAYSIA and 308 had shown The Rakyat can evaluate RIGHTS and WRONGS and voted across divides and party lines.
May PRU 13 be the defining moment of REAL CHANGE with like minded politicians who are ISSUES CENTERED for THE RAKYAT and THE 1 and ONLY 1 MALAYSIA.
Thank you.
cintanegaraku
January 29, 2010 at 3:03 pm
Stand up, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, STAND UP for the people. Uphold the rights of the people of Kelantan. Too long have the poor rural malays endure poverty while the umno elite show the arrogance of their corruption. BE with the people in God’s Holy name.
joehancl
January 29, 2010 at 10:26 pm
And while you are at it, don’t forget to remind the federal govenrment that not only has it to keep its words and contracts wth IPP’s, toll road concessionaires and other privatised mega profits entities(including smart ic and passports), but also to CPM members, ASEAN partners in regards to car imports, CLOB investors and the citizesn of this country with regards to their rights, which is being eroded by the day.
If this straglehold is maintained, it won’t be long before an armed inssurection begins and everyone will suffer. There will be no peace until true justice is enforced.
sputjam
January 29, 2010 at 11:49 pm
I hope you will reply to your former Semangat 46 Deputy President on his ‘confusion’ with your present ‘stance which is stunning’.
But then, why did you keep quiet when the same intimidation was used on Terengganu when it was under PAS.
perakborn
January 31, 2010 at 8:14 am
Kudos Ku Li for a well written article reminding us about the importance of states to the federal government. Perhaps what the current federal government need now is a little nudge from the people from their own side to remind them of what they should do as a government and how to function properly. It has been a while since we all see a principled leader and it is relieving to realize that there are still some leaders who leads by example and according to their own principle. Once again sir, I am your biggest fan and it is great knowing that there’s still a leader in Malaysia who i still can trust. Thank you
ahmadnazmi
February 3, 2010 at 6:25 pm
Salam to our dearest YBM Tengku,
I was very happy seeing you with TG Nik Aziz & DP Husam at the Stadium Sultan Mohammad IV. One thing for sure, we can work together if we put enough effort to think of the “rakyat’ first than ourselves. Thank you very much for always being there when we needed you most. You are indeed our “Harimau Malaya”… Also, to the PAS leaders, thank you very much for exquisitely handling the “Kalimah Allah” issue and not easily falling into our dearest PM’s trap. Wassalam.
rosetulip
February 4, 2010 at 5:10 pm
[...] Malaysia of their rightful share. Najib’s decision to withhold cash payments — in spite of the Petroleum Development Agreement (PDA) which clearly stipulates the cash payments — not only makes a mockery of his claim to put people [...]
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