PAS vice-president Salahuddin Ayub will be bringing Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to task regarding the oil blocks that were “signed off” to neighbouring Brunei.

NONE Salahuddin Ayub, who is also Kubang Kerian MP, said that he will be filing an emergency motion to debate the matter in Parliament when it resumes sitting on June 7.

“There is a lot of confusion and debate over the matter. And yet, there is still no official explanation from the prime minister or his office.

“It is very important that he explains this in Parliament,” he said, adding that he will only withdraw his motion if Najib can give an assurance that he would be giving a ministerial statement on the controversy.

At a press conference in the PAS headquarters, Salahuddin also raised questions on whether the 2009 Exchange of Letters, which allegedly saw Brunei dropping its claims for Limbang in exchange for two oil-rich blocks in Malaysian waters, were constitutional.

According to Article 2 of the federal constitution, the Parliament may by law admit other states into the federation, and alter the boundaries of any state.

“But a law altering the boundaries of a state shall not be passed without the consent of that State (expressed by a law made by the Legislature of that State) and of the Conference of Rulers,” read the constitution.

“So I will use every avenue in Parliament to make Najib explain,” said Salahuddin.

Deal went relatively unnoticed

The deal on the oil blocks went relatively unnoticed until former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad raised the issue in his blog, saying that his successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s decision to give away Blocks L and M had cost the country RM320 billion.

azlan In an almost immediate reply , Abdullah refuted Mahathir’s claims, saying that Malaysia will be allowed to participate in joint efforts to develop oil and gas resources there for 40 years, and that the cabinet approved the deal on Feb 11 last year.

Petronas and Wisma Putra also subsequently issued official statements saying that while the two blocks are already sovereign Brunei land, Petronas is still invited by the Bruneian government to do work in the blocks which have been renamed Block J and Block K.

Najib has also previously said that the deal was a “win-win solution” for both Malaysia and Brunei.