Yesterday, when responding to Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azmin Ali’s comment on the Sarawak government’s banning of West Malaysia opposition leaders into Sarawak, Human Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said that Azmin should study the Malaysia Agreement 1963 before questioning the Sarawak government’s immigration autonomy to bar individuals from entering the state.
Wan Junaidi said it was the state government’s right to look after and safeguard Sarawak’s interest from elements that could undermine peace and harmony.
He was also quoted to say “What we don’t desire is the action by parties to disrupt our harmony just to sell their politics here (Sarawak)”.
I am surprised that Wan Junaidi would come out with such an argument and defence when it is so clear that the Sarawak chief minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem‘s action in imposing a blanket ban on peninsular opposition leaders from entering into the state to carry out legitimate political activities is a blatant abuse of the state’s immigration autonomy powers.
Wan Junaidi, as a lawyer, should know that for Adenan to ban the West Malaysia’s opposition leaders from entering the state for the sole purpose of carrying out “legitimate political activities” is wrong, unacceptable and against the word and spirit of the 1963 Malaysia Agreement.
It is therefore Wan Junaidi himself who should study and understand the word and spirit of the 1963 Malaysia Agreement before supporting the blatant abuse of autonomy immigration powers by Adenan Satem.
It is also so clear that Adenan’s purpose of imposing the undemocratic ban is to deny the opposition a level playing field in the state election.
Wan Juiadi should therefore not try to defend Adenan’s action by parroting BN leaders’ excuses that the move is to preserve the state’s harmony and to bar racists and extremists.
I wish to stress that DAP respects Sarawak’s immigration autonomy powers but we cannot accept such blatant abuse.
There is no doubt that Sarawak BN will be able to retain state power on May 7, so it is puzzling why the chief minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem was so afraid of the opposition that he was prepared to go down in history as being worse than his predecessor Tun Taib Mahmud in abusing the autonomy immigration powers.