PAS vice-president Husam Musa said that the Sarawak state government's push for a larger oil royalty payment to be given to the state should not be taken seriously as it could be an election ploy.

 

"I don't think this is serious. It's just because the state elections are around the corner. We should not get carried away," he told a forum on oil royalty in Kuala Lumpur today.

 

Sabah, Kelantan, Terengganu and Sarawak are the four oil producing states in Malaysia and the movement demanding greater royalties for all four states has been growing over the past few years.

 

Husam himself has been a proponent of demanding oil royalty to be paid to the PAS-led Kelantan state government, but said that other states should not be carried away by the Sarawak state assembly's move to pass a motion to demand for more royalty.

 

The state government is seeking the royalty to be raised from five percent to 20 percent.

All oil producing states in the country are paid their oil royalty via development and welfare funds in the state, though there have been consistent calls for the payment to made in cash directly to the state government to allow the latter to manage the money.

 

"The election is coming, and they need money for development. The premier will make this promise, and then after election, they will be quiet," he said.

 

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak ( right ) had said during his recent trip to Sarawak that the federal government would consider a larger royalty being paid to Sarawak.

 

Husam also said that the people in Sarawak should consider voting for Pakatan Rakyat first before talking about a secession plan from Malaysia.

 

"Try us out for about a decade or so, and then you will see. You might not have to wait until the next elections to get the Trans-Borneo Highway to be constructed," he said.