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By Kazi Mahmood KUALA LUMPUR (IslamOnline) - The tug-of-war over the payment of "oil royalty" between the state of Terengganu and the Mahathir regime in Malaysia has entered a new phase. The state government of oil-rich Terengganu in northern Malaysia, ruled by the Party Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS), has released official secret documents, escalating the controversy. The PAS government of the state, in an effort to strengthen its case for petroleum royalties, has declassified three documents on the subject previously deemed official secrets. In Malaysia, revealing state or federal government secrets falls under the very stringent Official Secrets Act (OSA). Any breach of the OSA can be considered as betrayal of the nation, a crime punishable by death. However, the Islamic government of Terengganu, faced with an uphill battle against the federal warlords in Kuala Lumpur, has decided that these documents should be released in order to hold the central government accountable. "They are no more classified as official secret documents,'' Chief Minister of Terengganu, Abdul Hadi Awang said. Hadi, who made the announcement within the powers accorded to him under Section 2(C) of the Official Secrets Act 1972 (Act 88), said the documents can now be made available to the public. The State's Information Liaison office will arrange for its circulation within the next few days. This has been decided since the state government ruled out any possibilities to bring the matter to the courts. "We do not believe we can win in the courts. The people of Terengganu know the reason why we may lose the case in courts. Thus we bring the debate to the public. Now the ball is in their camp," a PAS official in Terengganu said. Hadi said former Chief Minister Wan Mokhtar Ahmad and the national petroleum company, Petronas, signed the three documents. He said the decision to declassify the documents was effective immediately and that the move was necessary to enable the public to get "a clear picture and the right information pertaining to the issue." Hadi added that the people had been confused with information coming from various sources, which portrayed the state government as begging for the royalty payments. He hoped the public would "read for themselves" and conclude whether the payment was a "goodwill payment" as claimed by Mahathir, or "royalty" as the documents reveal. The state of Terengganu has been paid "oil royalties" for the past 25 years. During this period it was under the control of Mahathir's party, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), that was thrown out of office in the 1999 general elections. The PAS has accused the Federal government of interfered with an agreement signed between Terengganu and the national oil company, Petronas, in which the latter agreed to pay a 5% royalty on revenue of oil drilled from Terengganu's shores. The Federal government argues that the drilled oil does not belong to the state. Mahathir said the oil was in international waters and that "special payments" were made to Terengganu because, at one time, it was one of the poorest states in the country. Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi supported the Prime Minister by adding that Terengganu was no longer a poor state, thus the state no longer needed the royalty money. The PAS has also accused the UMNO-led government of "two weight and two measures" when it came to PAS-controlled state governments. It has been alleged that the Kelantan state government - controlled by the PAS - has not been given its usual federal allocations for years. "This resulted in the state becoming poorer and poorer over the years." Fauzi Zakaria a businessman in Kota Bahru, Kelantan told IslamOnline. "The aim to prevent the Terengganu government from getting the royalty money is to impoverish the state and make PAS unpopular. [The] UMNO has found a formidable weapon in its drive to win back the state in 4 years." Fauzi said. |
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