KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 26 — Negotiations to rewrite the Malaysia Agreement 1963 to give Sarawak greater autonomy are now in the second phase, the state government said.

Without deliberating on details, Sarawak Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Openg reportedly said that talks with Putrajaya were currently looking at financial aspects.

"Now we are at the second stage, which is more on finance. If agreed, the negotiation will proceed to the technical aspect that is under the point of law, constitution and Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63),” he was quoted as saying in The Borneo Post Online.

Abang Johari refused to divulge details for fear that they may be misconstrued and affect the ongoing negotiations.

"This will jeopardise the negotiation and the posting (on Facebook) is bad because it jeopardises the perception of the other side (Putrajaya).

"Datuk Seri Najib (Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak) has been very open to the negotiation on certain aspects that have been eroded and has agreed to bring it back to the state. There are subject matters that we have to negotiate further but he could not disclose any,” he was quoted as saying.

The news report said a Facebook posting had earlier emerged, claiming that some 630,000 petitioners together with the support of the Sarawak state legislative assembly, had presented a petition to Queen Elizabeth II to review MA63.

Abang Johari’s aide Ambrose Cheng lodged a police report on the matter.

Discussions to amend MA63 was started by the late chief minister, Tan Sri Adenan Satem, to correct the anomaly in the agreement.

Adenan, who had fought for this before his demise in January, felt that the state’s rights had eroded over time through Putrajaya’s involvement.

Najib, meanwhile, had several times expressed his readiness to come up with a win-win situation for both the state and the federal government.