DAP will back the governments of Sabah and Sarawak if they make demands to increase oil royalties from 5 percent to 20 percent and end the cabotage policy.

NONEIn a press release today, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said such demands will provide the two states - among Malaysia's poorest in terms of household income - a "fair deal".

"DAP offers to fully co-operate with Sabah and Sarawak state government leaders to check the arrogance of Umno by ensuring that Sabah and Sarawak's status as equal partners in the Malaysian Federation is not reduced to a master-servant relationship like the British colonial masters," he said.

Lim said this in reaction to Sarawak Land Development Minister James Masing's (right) interview with The Malaysian Insider, and lamented at Umno's alleged master-slave attitude towards Sabah and Sarawak.

Unequal partners

Masing complained that some young Umno leaders do not understand the gist of the Malaysia Agreement and thus adopt a very patronising attitude towards Sabah and Sarawak.

"When they talk to us, they make themselves feel as if they are superior while we in Sarawak, are their coolies.

"Personally, I get irritated with those leaders who do not treat us from Sarawak as equal partners in the administration of this federation.

"We in Sarawak and Sabah seemed to be like an appendix to peninsular Malaysia," said Masing.

While Lim agreed with Masing that arrogance pervades Umno, he disagreed with the assertion that ignorance of the Malaysia Agreement was the cause.

"Instead, it is Umno's racist ideology and extremist policies that entitles Umno being masters whilst others must be subservient, that has caused friction not just between Putrajaya and (Sabah and Sarawak) but also between ordinary Malaysians especially non-Malays and non-Muslims," he said.