SHAH ALAM, Nov 24 — PKR is set to ensure its leaders from Sabah and Sarawak get high-ranking posts in proposed changes to its party constitution, in a nod towards the significance of the two east Malaysian states.

Under the proposed new amendments, one of the three vice-presidents appointed must come from either Sabah or Sarawak, while the party chiefs from the two states would automatically become members of the party’s influential political bureau.

PKR is also set to insert the “Kuching Declaration” into its party constitution, which stresses the spirit of fair power-sharing and cooperation within Sabah, Sarawak and the peninsula based on the 1963 Malaysia Agreement that led to the country’s founding.

Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis, a PKR delegate from Sabah, today delivered a spirited speech, urging party members from Peninsula Malaysia to give equal treatment to leaders from Borneo in a bid to prevent them from feeling “marginalised”.

“My message to all leaders and also party members from Semenanjung: Don’t treat us differently as if we Borneans are lesser than Semenanjung people, we are equal,” she said firmly, being the first delegate to debate at the party congress.

Earlier, she recounted how the party STAR’s cry of “Sabah for Sabahans” had managed to garner support among those in the state during the 13^th general election.

She pointed out that STAR’s leader Datuk Jeffrey Kitingan was formerly a PKR leader, while the STAR candidate who vied for the Kota Belud parliamentary seat was the former leader of the Kota Belud PKR branch.

“Why did this happen? Because they feel marginalised. Not just them, but their supporters, that we have to take into account,” said Isnaraissah, who also joined the Kota Belud five-corner fight in the May 5 national polls where Umno’s Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan successfully defended his seat.

Earlier in her speech today, PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail spoke of how the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition had kept Putrajaya because of votes from Sabah and Sarawak.

“We know that Barisan Nasional continues to control the federal government only because of its victory in Sabah and Sarawak,” she said at PKR’s special congress to amend its party constitution.

She then questioned why the two states were still far behind in terms of infrastructure despite decades of independence and also noted the alleged lack of focus in the government’s Budget 2014 towards the Borneo.

“So Keadilan especially us firmly maintain the stand to give autonomy to Sabah and Sarawak,” Wan Azizah said, pledging to ensure the fair division of the country’s wealth to all states, including the payment of 20 per cent royalty to oil-producing Sabah, Sarawak, Kelantan and Terengganu.

A PKR delegate from Sarawak, Abun Sui Anyit, proposed that Sabah and Sarawak take turns to occupy the mandatory vice-president seat, jokingly saying that leaders from the two states would hopefully not fight over the post.

Abun Sui, who is a lawyer, also suggested that two vice-president seats be reserved for Sabah and Sarawak in the future, with the two states to get one each.

Both Abun Sui and Isnaraissah had stressed that Sabah and Sarawak had not joined Malaysia, but were instead equal partners with Malaya when forming Malaysia in 1963.

The recognition of Sabah and Sarawak’s position is one of the key areas in the party constitution that were up for amendment today.

All proposed changes to PKR’s constitution were unanimously agreed upon by the delegates present this afternoon, with the changes to take effect after the Registrar of Societies (RoS) gives its approval.