Speech by DAP National Chairman Lim Kit Siang at the Cheras DAP Dinner to
commemorate the International Women's Day held at the "Inn of Sixth
Happiness" Restaurant,  Kuala Lumpur on Friday, March 9, 2001:

DAP fully supports the legal suit by Terengganu PAS state government against
Federal Government over lost oil royalty
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DAP fully supports the legal suit by the Terengganu PAS state government
against the Federal Government over the lost oil royalty.

The  Federal Government had acted unlawfully,  unjustly  and
undemocratically when it unilaterally abrogated the 25-year-old Petronas oil
royalty agreement with Terengganu to pay 5 per cent oil royalty as a blatant
UMNO  political  reprisal and revenge against the people of Terengganu for
voting in a PAS state government in the last general election.

Until September last year,  every Finance Minister in the past two decades
had recognised the Terengganu state government's right to oil royalty and
this is fully borne out by  the Economic Report 1978/1979 presented by the
Finance Minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah in Parliament in October 1978,
which is most significant as it was Razaleigh who signed the 1975 Petronas
agreement with the Terengganu State Government when he was the President and
Chief Executive of the national oil corporation spelling out the "cash
payments" of 5 per cent oil royalty to Terengganu.

The Terengganu  state government has acted righty in instituting legal
proceedings for the  reinstatement of more than RM800 million in annual oil
royalty due to it under the 1975  agreement, as Mahathir had acted in utter
contempt of the rule of law in hijacking the oil royalty for direct
disbursement by a parallel but illegal government as wang ehsan to the
people of Terengganu.

After honouring the Petronas agreement for a quarter of a century, the
correct and proper thing for Mahathir to do if he contends that the
Terengganu state government has no legal right to the 5 per cent oil royalty
is to seek an interpretation of the Petronas agreement from the courts and
not to act unilaterally in an undemocratic and unjust manner to hijack the
state's oil royalty.

Mahathir said two days ago when arguing for UMNO's initiated "Malay Unity"
talks with PAS that  the Malays should place greater importance on the race
and not their parties. Did Mahathir place  greater importance on the race
and not on UMNO  when he hijacked the  Terengganu oil royalty from the PAS
state government?

                    - Lim Kit Siang -