Ku Li will know what to do about caucus, says DPM

Muhyiddin says party is more important than state and members should respect this principle. — Picture by Choo Choy May

By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani - The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 25 — In what appears to be confusion whether Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah will head the oil royalty caucus, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin today said he believes the Umno veteran will make a correct decision on the matter.

“We will leave it to the wisdom of Tengku Razaleigh. I think he has been long in the party so he knows what decision he should make,” Muhyiddin told a press conference in Parliament.

Yesterday, Parliamentary Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced that the founding chairman of Petronas had accepted the invitation to head the caucus to be set up by Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers to probe the oil royalty issue.

However, the mainstream media reported today that the Gua Musang MP had neither accepted nor declined the invitation.

The Barisan Nasional (BN) deputy chairman also urged the Kelantan prince to carefully consider before making any decision.

“I have read the news but I have not received any detailed report on his real position.

“It is better that Tengku Razaleigh carefully analyse because even though it involves the state of Kelantan, it (caucus) is sponsored by the opposition and Datuk Seri Anwar himself is behind it.

“On a common basis, it is not appropriate but I think Tengku Razaleigh understands this and we will let him to analyse before making the final decision,” Muhyiddin added.

The Umno deputy president also stressed that party is more important than state and its members should respect the principle.

“We have a principle that BN parties do not get involved in these matters. We are tied to these principles even though we know its (caucus) purpose.

“We also know the subject matter of their cause and BN members can get direct access from the ministries and state government to get the real picture,” he said.

The proposed caucus aims to draft amendments to the Petroleum Development Act to ensure that oil-producing states — including opposition-controlled Kelantan — receive royalties in line with the philosophy that constituted the Act in 1974.

Tengku Razaleigh’s involvement in the opposition campaign to get oil royalty for Kelantan formally started last Wednesday when he said that the state had the right to receive profit from its oil.

The former finance minister was involved in the drafting of the Act and the opposition has argued that the law was drafted to ensure that oil-producing states receive 5 per cent royalty.

He said that it was Kelantan’s “constitutional right” to receive royalty.

But Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has said that Kelantan was not entitled to it as the oil is extracted beyond state waters or beyond three nautical miles from the shore.

This argument was again used as the government’s defence in not giving Kelantan royalty by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Nazri Aziz when pressed by the Opposition in Parliament last week.

Kelantan, which is under PAS control, will instead receive “goodwill payment” for its oil, said Najib.

The announcement sparked an uproar among PR lawmakers, particularly those from PAS, who have been fighting to get oil royalty since 2001. The campaign was led by Kelantan state exco Datuk Husam Musa.