By FMT Staff
KUALA LUMPUR: Former finance minister and Umno veteran parliamentarian Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah will head a parliamentary caucus scheduled to be formed next week to review existing state and federal government ties.
PAS’ Kubang Kerian MP Salahuddin Ayub said the committee will also study the issue of oil royalties involving Kelantan, Terengganu, Sabah and Sarawak.
He was of the opinion that Razaleigh’s involvement in the caucus, having been once a chairman of Petronas, would give it more focus and direction on issues relating to federal and state laws and jurisdiction.
“There are several issues relating to the law and constitution that needs to be studied and discussed.
“We have seen too many grey areas and too many compromises on policies and principles supposedly based on the spirit of federalism.
“These compromises have eroded the powers of the respective states and turned us into beggars,” he said alluding to Kelantan’s on-going battle with the federal government on the issue of oil royalty.
He said Pakatan Rakyat had met with Razaleigh, who is the Gua Musang MP, yesterday and he had agreed to chair the committee.
“We met with him yesterday and he has agreed to head the caucus which will not be limited to just demanding oil royalty rights.
“The caucus will also re-evaluate existing relationships between Pakatan-ruled states and the federal government.
“Tengku (Razaleigh) said he will invite MPs from all the parties including parliamentarians from Kelantan Terengganu, Sabah and Sarawak to support the caucus,” said Salahuddin who is also PAS vice-president.
Together with Salahuddin at the meeting with Razaleigh were Mahfuz Omar (Pokok Sena), Abdul Halim Abdul Rahman (Pengkalen Chepa) and Kamaruddin Jaffar (Tumpat), all from PAS.
