Referendum ‘the peaceful way’ for a nation to achieve independence — Aspirasi chief

Sarawak People’s Aspiration Party (Aspirasi) president Lina Soo speaks to Malay Mail during an interview in Kuching December 13, 2021. — MalayMail photo

KUCHING (Jan 17): Sarawakians must be aware that the only way for Sarawak to achieve independence non-violently is through a referendum, and not the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI), said Parti Aspirasi Rakyat Sarawak (Aspirasi) president Lina Soo.

In pointing this out, she regarded referendum as ‘the peaceful way for a nation to achieve independence’, and also ‘something that Sarawakians would want, if they were to see Sarawak become a sovereign nation’.

Adding on, she said for the United Nations (UN) to recognise Sarawak’s independence, a declaration must be done without any violence, and with the consent of Sarawakians.

“So the best way is to bring an independence referendum to the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) for legislation and action.

“If that’s done, Sarawak as an independent nation would be internationally recognised,” she told reporters when met after attending a meeting with Aspirasi members at a hotel here yesterday.

The session was meant as a post-mortem on the party’s performance during the 12th state election, which was called on Dec 18.

Still on the subject of referendum, Soo spoke about Scotland, which is trying to achieve independence through a referendum.

Adding on, she remarked: “Many countries like Timor Leste, (despite) having undergone much bloodshed, still need to go through referendum because this proves the will of the people of wanting to see their homeland become a sovereign nation.”

Soo also said for a nation to become an independent sovereign, the first thing it must do would be to declare its independence and in this regard, she hailed the move taken by former chief minister Pehin Sri Adenan Satem in 2016, in declaring July 22 as ‘Sarawak Independence Day’.

“So what you do is to declare (independence) first, then you fight for it, which is what many countries like Indonesia and Vietnam did – they fought their colonial masters (the Dutch and the French, respectively) for independence, won, and recognised by the UN after that.

“So the recognition of the date July 22 meant that Sarawak already declared its independence.

“We also have a democratically-elected government – a Chief Minister who acknowledges it, a Governor (Yang di-Pertua Negeri) who approves it and has it gazetted under Sarawak law… so, this is a legitimate declaration of independence.”

In this respect, Soo viewed the stand by Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) of stating UDI as the way for Sarawak to achieve its independence as ‘not the right way’.

PBK president Voon Lee Shan thinks that UDI is legally recognised under international law, but I do not think so.

“UDI is not an international law, and is not recognised by the UN; at best, it’s a legally neutral act.”

Soo mentioned Taiwan as an example, stating that the republic would have declared independence via UDI in its Parliament and joined the UN if UDI had been declared valid under international law; but it had not done so.

“If the UK and the UN had recognised the legitimacy of UDI under international law, Hong Kong would have declared UDI in 1997 before the handover to China, and would have become a new nation then,” she added.

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