PETRONAS’ move to have the courts declare it has exclusive ownership over the nation’s petroleum resources could not have come without orders from the top, said the Sabah Star president.

Dr Jeffrey Kitingan, in a veiled reference to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, said “a person in the top position of the federal government could have instructed Petronas to pursue the legal action”, given that Sarawak is a Barisan Nasional state.

“There’s a strong possibility (it’s him). This suit is politics. It is the move of a dictator who, instead of executing the work himself, is making others do the work,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

“This has shown in the past. He was oppressive against those who disagreed with him. It was the same when he brought Umno into Sabah in 1990, when Parti Bersatu Sabah decided not to be allies with BN.”

The national oil company is going to the Federal Court, seeking a declaration that the Petroleum Development Act 1974 gives it exclusive ownership over Malaysia’s petroleum resources, including in Sarawak.

There is chatter on social media that Dr Mahathir masterminded the Petronas suit.

Some have said the move shows that the leaders in the Pakatan Harapan federal government are not sincere about keeping the pact’s election promise to increase Sabah and Sarawak’s oil royalties from 5% to 20%.

The speculation was fuelled by reports that Petronas chairman Mohd Sidek Hassan and director Mohd Omar Mustapha are due to resign.

Jeffrey added that Dr Mahathir served as Petronas adviser from 2003 until 2016, when he was removed from the post during BN’s rule.

He said Petronas’ move to go to the courts is in the style of the “old” Dr Mahathir, who had used the Internal Security Act, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and police to crack down on dissidents during his first tenure as prime minister. – June 8, 2018.