The states of Sabah and Sarawak will see their autonomy slightly increased according to an announcement made by Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. But Sarawakian leaders and civil society groups feel that the announcement does not meet Sarawak's minimum demands, and argue the territory should at least be given full internal self-government within the Malaysian federation.

Najib explained that the governments of Sabah and Sarawak will have more ability to decide on priority projects to be carried out in the two territories. The PM also said that federal government-state governments bilateral committees will be set up in order to discuss further devolution.

Sabah and Sarawak are the only two Malaysian states located on Borneo island, separated by sea from the Malay Peninsula, where the states of Peninsular Malaysia and most of the Malaysian population are found. In 1963, after independence from the UK, Sarawak and Sabah established federal Malaysia along with Malaya and Singapore -Singaporeans left the federation in 1965.

Sarawak and Sabah have since had limited autonomy within the framework of the powers granted to them by the Malaysian Constitution.

Full autonomy

But Najib's announcement is not enough to various Sarawakian political leaders and organizations. One of them is Lim Kit Siang, parliamentary head of the Democratic Action Party, the secong largest party in the Sarawakian Parliament. According to Lim, Najib would do better to restore "full autonomy" that "the two nations of Borneo", namely Sabah and Sarawak, had enjoyed "before 1963."

Lim is not the only one left unhappy with the current state of affairs. On the same day Najib announced the transfer of powers, the civil society group Sarawak for Sarawakians (S4S) launched a signature collection campaign demanding respect for the rights of Sarawak as foreseen in the 1963 Eighteen Point Agreement, by which the territory joined the Malaysian federation.

S4S's aim is to collect the signatures of more than 10% of Sarawakians and to force the Sarawak government to pass a law to demand autonomy as envisaged in the Eighteen Point Agreement, which pro-autonomy supporters believe has been violated by the federal authorities.