Parliamentary Discourse 2022 Rapporteur Report

Parliamentary Discourse 2022 31st March - 1st April 2022 | Damai Beach Resort, Santubong Officiated by:

The Right Honourable Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri (Dr) Abang Haji Abdul Rahman Zohari bin Tun Datuk Abang Haji Openg Premier of Sarawak

Rapporteur Report of Opening Ceremony prepared by Diana Marie Capel | Leadership Institute of Sarawak Civil Service

Secretariat Advisor: The Honourable Tan Sri Datuk Amar Haji Mohamad Asfia bin Awang Nasar Speaker of Sarawak State Legislative Assembly

Chairman: Pele Peter Tinggom Secretary of Sarawak State Legislative Assembly Ismail Said CEO, Leadership Institute of Sarawak Civil Service

Secretaries: Abang Mohammad Adib bin Abang Sallehhadin Sarawak State Legislative Assembly Siti Rahanah Amat Dollah Leadership Institute of Sarawak Civil Service

Members: Sarawak State Legislative Assembly Nur Azira binti Abdul Kadir Siti Norhiza binti Mohamad Yusri Noria binti Suut Rabiah binti Abdul Kadir Aisha Parveen binti Badron Hanisah Abdullah Natasha Nadia binti Mohd Saidi Nur Eliana Abdullah

Zahari bin Bolhi Lukas Jammany anak Kated Salman bin Jaya Tengku Muhammad Sabri bin Tuanku Zainal Mohd Nor Hafizzan bin Mohammad Mazlan Noraisah bt Ahmad Mohd Hasfia bin Abdullah

Leadership Institute of Sarawak Civil Service Hajah Azizah Hj Hassan Hadiah Hamdan Diana Marie Capel Nazam bin Endong Noor Syafikha binti Bujang Hassim

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Rodziah Zaidan Kok Swee Yong Jacqueline Cynthia Hasanah Openg Abdul Rani bin Haji Adenan

OBJECTIVE To provide a thorough knowledge and information on state policies and principles around effective parliamentary process.

SCHEDULE DAY 1, THURSDAY, 31ST MARCH 2022 PAPER 1: “HOW TO BE AN EFFECTIVE BACKBENCHER” Yang Berhormat Dato’ Haji Idris bin Haji Buang Deputy Speaker of Sarawak State Legislative Assembly Honourable Member for N.16 Muara Tuang

DAY 2, FRIDAY, 1ST APRIL 2022 PAPER 2: “STANDING ORDERS” Yang Berusaha Encik Pele Peter Tinggom Secretary of Sarawak State Legislative Assembly PAPER 3: “POLITICAL LEADERSHIP - MYTHS, REALITIES AND LEGACIES” YBhg. Datu Abdul Ghafur Shariff Chairman of State Public Service Commissions PAPER 4: “PREPARATION OF BILLS” Yang Arif Dato Sri Talat Mahmood Bin Abdul Rashid Attorney General of Sarawak

PAPER 6: “PRINCIPLES OF GOVERNMENT POLICIES” Yang Berhormat Datuk Amar Jaul Samion State Secretary of Sarawak PAPER 7: “THE CONSTITUTIONAL STATUS OF SARAWAK IN THE FEDERATION OF MALAYSIA” Yang Berbahagia Dato Sri JC Fong Former State Attorney General

PAPER 5: “SELECT COMMITTEES” Yang Berhormat Dato Gerawat Gala Deputy Minister in the Office of the Premier of Sarawak (Labour, Immigration and Project Monitoring) Honourable Member for N.78 Mulu

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WELCOMING SPEECH

BY THE DEPUTY SPEAKER OF SARAWAK STATE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.

The Right Honourable Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri (Dr) Abang Haji Abdul Rahman Zohari bin Tun Datuk Abang Haji Openg, Premier of Sarawak, Honourable Ministers and Deputy Ministers, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen.

Assalamuálaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. Salam Sejahtera.

First and foremost, I would like to extend a warm welcome to everyone and express our sincere gratitude to the Premier of Sarawak for his presence this evening.

YAB Premier, Ladies and gentlemen.

Today we began a 2-day Parliamentary Discourse programme. An initiative of the State Honourable Speaker Tan Sri Datuk Amar Mohamad Asfia Awang Nasar this programme is jointly organized by the State Legislative Assembly and the Leadership Institute of Sarawak Civil Service this programme. It is aimed at sharing knowledge on the policies and principles around discharging parliamentary duties, particularly for newly elected State assembly members. The Honourable Speaker felt that the opportunity to enhance the DUN members’ skills and knowledge is imperative because their knowledge of the legislative process as well as a being equipped with good debating skills are vital. In addition to this, the Honourable Speaker concurred that it deemed fit to impart our assemblymen with the right acumen in parliamentary skills for them to become effective and efficient back backbenchers. It is hoped that through the efforts of the Leadership Institute alongside the DUN working committee members who have spent many days preparing for this event, this Parliamentary Discourse will help us attain our ambition to maintain the high standards of dignity, sense of responsibility and the right decorum for our members.

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DUN members past and present, have all been guided personally by the Honourable Speaker. From my humble observation, our DUN members have become the epitome of fine parliamentarian around this region. This morning I showed a video that demonstrated the conduct of parliamentarians around the world. Through the visuals of the video, we had the opportunity to observe that although the Parliament is expected to be a place of dignity where laws are made, there were times the scenario can become worse than that of the market place.

The efforts of enhancing DUN members to better themselves is hoped to bring the recognition for Sarawak to greater heights as a beacon of parliamentarian across the region. The papers presented today touched on parliamentarian duties both for the constituencies and the parliamentary levels, in addition to the party’s mission and vision.

The mandate we received from the rakyat is an evident of the trust bestowed upon us by granting 76 out of 82 seats to us in the last election. Moving into the next endemicity phase, we will see increased dynamic and robust developments intended for the State’s economic prosperity and, certainly this direction is comparable to the rest of the world. We believe that under the leadership of YAB Premier, we will all be able to support him steer Sarawak to a better future. Insyallah, with YAB Premier’s exemplary leadership we will gain more grounds and bring newer frontier in our pursuit for excellence towards giving the people of Sarawak all that they deserve. Looking at the transformation initiatives for our people in rural and urban Sarawak designed with a balanced focus given to all sectors and locations in Sarawak, I think there is a lot for us to achieve. We are blessed with political and economic stability. We will indeed do well in our ecosystem.

I hope with good parliamentarians such as our DUN members, Sarawak will demonstrate the kind of democracy that is supposed to be and with the degree of responsibility that we display, we will surely move forward faster than we can image. I am confident, sir that with your leadership we will together carve a better future for our people now and generations to come.

Thank you.

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PARLIAMENTARY DISCOURSE INAUGURATION SPEECH

BY THE PREMIER OF SARAWAK

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.

The Honourable Deputy Speaker Dato’ Idris Buang, Honourable Ministers and Deputy Ministers, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen.

Assalamuálaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. Salam sejahtera, Salam Sarawakku Sayang.

I am grateful to be able to be here for the Parliamentary Discourse organized by the DUN Speaker’s office with the support of the Leadership Institute and I wish to congratulate both of the organizing committees for its successful implementation. I understand that this programme is organized amongst others for DUN members to understand procedures, the ways we debate and so on. In addition to that the topics include their preparedness to follow the DUN’s current developments and the ability to present ideas particularly for the growth of the rakyat’s lives. Most importantly, to know the way that we govern the State.

Tonight, I will be sharing with you some of the pertinent matters that members of DUN must be familiar with and, these are the six subjects that I would like to emphasize, particularly to newly elected DUN members.

1.

The type of Democracy in Malaysia

2.

The way we form the Government through Democracy process

3.

The role of members of ADUN both the government as well as the opposition.

4.

The introduction of bills that will become law after being passed by the majority support of ADUN members

5.

The role of Backbenchers

6.

The importance of Standing Orders

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Ladies and gentlemen, In Sarawak we are practicing Democracy based on the Westminster Model. As you know, in the history of United Kingdom there is no codified constitution in the British parliament, instead it has gone through an evolution. Historically, there were two groups that govern the United Kingdom and these two groups were the core of the democratic process.

Those familiar with the British history particularly lawyers here know that the two groups recorded in history were the Whigs and the Tories, prior to the establishment of Labour party. The democratic principle at that time were based on land, represented by the properties owned. These were confined to the landlords, which is why they have the House of Lords. Eventually the common people came and participated in the running of the government, thus explains the existence of the House of Commons. Otherwise, it was dominated by those who had the property until after universal suffrage came into being, then the common people came in. If you go to Westminster there are benches instead of chairs, that symbolizes the common people.

For us in Malaysia our practice is based on the Westminster models. The formation of the government is based on the majority support for an individual to be the Head of The Government and I think the first Prime Minister of England was Sir Robert Walpole. When the common people came into parliament, they have the right to voice their opinions and on how the country should be governed. Hence, our process today is actually of the common people. They have the voice to place us in the Dewan, the very reason we have elections. The person that garners the majority support in our DUN, he commands the majority and becomes the Head of Government. Our model is based on that. It is based on the majority support that the formation of the government through cabinet system is established. This has become the inherited part and parcel of the way we run the government. Thanks to God, in the last election the rakyat mandated to GPS to govern the State.

We will continue governing based on what we have promised through our manifesto.

For us in GPS, a promise is a promise and we must try to deliver all that we have promised to the people of Sarawak.

We must have policies that will make an impact on the rakyat’s lives. Our manifesto is calibrated based on what we want to do and, to uplift our people. Basically, this is what government is all about; to govern and to deliver.

Having said that, this touches on the role of ADUNs in respect of your role in bringing the voice of the people in the Dewan. Therefore, as representatives of the people you must be responsible to be in the Dewan and, to express your views based on what the people want. That is why; the presence of ADUNs in the Dewan is very important.

Generally, ADUNs spend 8 days in the Dewan, plus another session of 8 days. Altogether, there are only 16 days in a year for ADUNs to be in the dewan and, to express the expectations of the rakyat.

On the assumption that each session is 8 days, you are connecting yourself with the people in your constituencies and that connectivity will be the basis for you to express your views. That is the role of ADUNs once you are elected. In other words, there must be the discipline for us to be present in the dewan.

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I give assurance that government will listen to you. Having listened to you, if the government feels that certain actions should be taken, we may draft the Bills according to your application in the Dewan. Once the Bill is approved by the Dewan, it becomes the law. We recently amended the Sarawak Constitution. We presented the Bill to make amendments to the constitution based on what happened to MA63. MA63 is an example of the expression of the rights of Sarawakians to the Federal Government and we cannot compromise these rights under the MA63. Similarly, it is very clearly stated in the Constitution that we have the authority under the law to impose sales tax.

Petronas was reluctant to pay sales tax because they felt that they had the exclusive rights under the PDA 1974. Fortunately for us, we have the 1958 Mining Ordinance law.

Secondly, under our constituent we have the right to impose sales tax. At that time, we had the committee of MA63 and I was questioned by the then Minister of Finance. Gerawat and Sharifah Hasidah was there. The then Prime minister asked me why we must impose the sales tax. He said that the sales tax will be a deterrent for companies to invest in oil and gas in Malaysia because it is an added cost. My reply was that we have the right to impose 5% sales tax. It could have been more but the Sarawak government decided to make it 5%. At that time the Federal government-imposed Petroleum Income Tax (PITA) at 38% and the royalty and also corporate tax at 30%. There are four sources of tax received by the Federal government. I added by saying that if the 5% is a burden to investors, the Federal Government should reduce the PITA from 38% to 33% so that the nett result would display that there is no additional cost to investors. Nevertheless, we brought Petronas to court and we won the case.

In other words that is the role of our DUN; to scrutinize Bills as well as the law in the country.

In order to get majority support, the role of our Backbenchers is very important. “Jangan kalah bulu”. You must protect the government, after all you are part of the government.

Backbenchers must have a high level of integrity. I have been in the house for many years and I have witnessed many political crises. At the end of the day, people will see whether you have the stamina, integrity and fighting spirit in you. This will be based on what you believe within you and, based on the principles of the parties you represent. If you want to belong in the DUN, you must portray the character that you should be in. You are there to express views of the rakyat. At the same time, you must trust the Creator because if it is yours, it will be yours. The rule in the Dewan is clear and you have the Standing Orders to guide you. You must have high respect to the Dewan, your colleagues, even to the opposition. That is the way we have to play our role.

I am sharing with you this because our Dewan has that standard so far. Through my observation in the last 40 years, our standard kept improving. Over the years we see the quality of the debate has improved. Many have expressed the view that Sarawak politicians are of high standard. In my recent trip to Kuala Lumpur, they said why not we follow like Sarawak especially the way we respect each other. They agreed with me when I raised the example of how even the word ‘timah’ can become a sensitive matter, as if ‘timah’ represents only women. ‘Timah’ is also the Malay word for tin. Another example is when Chopstick became an issue over there, whilst in tonight’s dinner we use chopsticks without any problem. That is the situation. I think these are the salient features I can to share with you.

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To the new members as you go along you will become familiar with the procedures of the dewan.

Before you debate on certain subjects, please do your research and, express your views based on the data you gathered. You must do research on the subject you wish to debate on because the reality is that the future is different and the standards are higher than before.

I was with the ladies, and they spoke about gender equality. I asked the ladies, why don’t you ask for more than 30% representation. I challenged them because the new era will be gender and racial blind. Digitalization does not distinguish between men and women; it is on how well you grasp technology. The question of gender equality within the next 15 years will not be an issue.

It will depend on how you command the environment you are in and how you perform based on technology. When I launched the digital economy transformation initiatives in 2017 many were sceptical. Since the pandemic, it has been evident that the people in rural areas are able to use SarawakPay and perform various online transactions. That will be the way of the future and Backbenchers must know these subjects to ensure the State’s economic transformation.

Lastly, I would like to share this.

We already have a common objective which for 2030. We want Sarawak to be a developed State of with high income. To achieve that, the Rakyat must be given adequate knowledge and this is the reason we must have the subject of Talent Development. Once all our basic infrastructure is ready, the Talent Development will make an impact because we have the resources. At the time when we launched the hydrogen initiative, many were sceptical. The hydrogen pilot project initiative became an attraction to investors to Sarawak. Sumitomo came from Japan and said that they want to set up a Hydrogen plant in Sarawak. We piloted the project because we believed the future is based on green technology. After the election we renamed several ministry names, and these names are the reflection of the renewed era and also the digital era. I hope ADUNs will identify these new fields to enable us to make that economic leap the future.

Ladies and gentlemen, These are the role of ADUNs; because our democracy is based on the Westminster Model, whereby the Majority talks and the majority holds the fort. The issue of government roles, functions and the formation of government and the role of that parliamentary democracy in determining our future.

I hope this Parliamentary Discourse will provide some information for us to continue our efforts in focusing our attention on the people on whom they depend.

With that, congratulations to my friends who have been elected as members of DUN and also for our devotion to rakyat. Let us work together for the future of Sarawak.

Thank you very much and I wish you the very best.

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Programme PAPER 1: “HOW TO BE AN EFFECTIVE BACKBENCHER” Yang Berhormat Dato’ Haji Idris bin Haji Buang Deputy Speaker of Sarawak State Legislative Assembly Honourable Member for N.16 Muara Tuang A BACKBENCHER…is under a BOUNDEN DUTY AND is IN A fiduciary capacity…

1)

in respect of his position as a representative towards his constituents.

2)

as a member of his party towards better understanding and solving of the people’s problems and further towards making proposals for the formulation of good polices for the well-being of Sarawak and its people

PAPER 2: “STANDING ORDERS OF THE DEWAN UNDANGAN NEGERI SARAWAK” Yang Berusaha Encik Pele Peter Tinggom Secretary of Sarawak State Legislative Assembly Standing Order 89 states: “All matters not specifically provided in these Standing Orders and all questions relating to the detailed working of these Standing Orders shall be regulated in such manner, not inconsistent with these Standing Orders, as the Speaker may from time to time direct; and in giving any such direction the Speaker shall have regard to the usages of Commonwealth Parliamentary practice so far as such usages can be applied to the proceedings of the Dewan”

PAPER 3: “POLITICAL LEADERSHIP: MYTHS, REALITIES AND LEGACIES” YBhg. Datu Abdul Ghafur Shariff Chairman of State Public Service Commissions Political cultures are “Attitudes, Beliefs, Emotions and values of society that relate to the political system and to political issues”

PAPER 4: “PREPARATION OF BILLS” Yang Arif Dato Sri Talat Mahmood Bin Abdul Rashid Attorney General of Sarawak Power Of Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) To Make Laws Article 74(2) FC: Without prejudice to any power to make laws conferred on it by any other Article, the Legislature of a State may make laws with respect to any of the matters enumerated in the State List (that is to say, the Second List set out in the Ninth Schedule) or the Concurrent List.

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Highlights PAPER 5: “SELECT COMMITTEES” Yang Berhormat Dato Gerawat Gala Deputy Minister in the Office of the Premier of Sarawak (Labour, Immigration and Project Monitoring) Honourable Member for N.78 Mulu Dewan Undangan Negeri (Privileges and Powers) Ordinance, 2007 CONTEMPT & OFFENCES (Sect 24 (2)) by ADUN or any other persons a)

Disobedience of any order of DUN or any Committees

b)

Refusal to be examined or answer questions by DUN or any Committees

c)

Wilful failure or refusal to obey orders of DUN to obstruct or impede proceedings

d)

Offering or accepting bribes to influence members conduct/decision

e)

Assaulting, obstructing or insulting any members

f)

Assault, interference with or resistance to DUN officer executing duties

PAPER 6: “PRINCIPLES OF GOVERNMENT POLICIES” Yang Berhormat Datuk Amar Jaul Samion State Secretary of Sarawak I.

Guide and govern the society

II.

Laws, guidelines, rules, procedures and actions undertaken by the government in order to address the concerns of the general public/ attain specific results

III.

Policies the government make on the public’s behalf that affects all aspects of our lives

IV.

Address problems of the society at large, not individual PAPER 7: “THE CONSTITUTIONAL STATUS OF SARAWAK IN THE FEDERATION OF MALAYSIA” Yang Berbahagia Dato Sri JC Fong Former State Attorney General Sarawak: Historical Background 20: Therefore, sovereignty, jurisdiction, property and assets which immediately before Malaysia Day were vested in Her Majesty the Queen, were vested in the State. The British did not vest or transfer sovereignty, jurisdiction, property and assets over or of Sarawak in the new Federation or in the new Federal Government or for that matter in Malaya.

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