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Get Petronas to quit Myanmar, govt told

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PETALING JAYA: Kuala Terengganu MP Raja Kamarul Bahrin has urged the government to pressure Petronas to pull out from Myanmar in protest against the alleged genocide of the country’s Rohingya minority.

Speaking to FMT, he complained that the national oil company had yet to respond to a petition submitted to it nearly two weeks ago.

The petition, signed by 47 MPs, called upon Petronas to “relinquish any and all participation in any form of operation in Myanmar” from next year onwards unless Myanmar’s government “recognises that the ethnic minority Rohingya are legitimate citizens of Myanmar and all manner of intimidation, subjugation, discrimination and crime against them are stopped immediately.”

Raja Kamarul also urged Putrajaya to allow the issue to be discussed in Parliament.

“The government says it is being vocal about the issue, but it isn’t truly committed to it,” he said. “Explain why we can’t have a discussion about it in Parliament.”

The opposition has been asking for a parliamentary debate on the issue since the end of last year.

Raja Kamarul made his remarks in response to reports that Prime Minister Najib Razak had spoken about the issue to both US President Donald Trump and Myanmar state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi when they met during the recent Asean Summit in Manila.

He challenged Najib to prove his sincerity by moving for a Dewan Rakyat debate on the issue and putting pressure on Petronas to quit Myanmar.

He noted recent reports that American oil giant Chevron had told the Myanmar government to respect the rights of the Rohingya community.

“Likewise, our government should start addressing the issue more firmly instead of just talking,” he said.

Kapar MP G Manivannan also called for more boldness from Putrajaya, saying it should see to it that the issue be made a specific item on the agenda of the next Asean summit.

Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad made a similar comment. “At the Asean summit,” he said, “there must be an effort to put the issue forward and to decide what should be done in order to stop the ethnic cleansing.”

He admitted, however, that it would not be fair to say the government had done nothing.

“The government is playing its role, but it can probably do more,” he said, adding that having Petronas withdraw from Myanmar would be a good move.

Academic supports move by MPs on Petronas pullout from Myanmar

MPs petition Petronas to quit Myanmar over treatment of Rohingya




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