KUALA LUMPUR, April 9 — Despite acknowledging that resource-rich Sabah is the poorest state in Malaysia, Umno MP Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin said it is beginning to catch up on development from the stability brought by Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN).

During debate on the Sedition (Amendment) Bill 2015, he was asked by Penampang MP Darell Leiking if there is a need to review the 20-point Malaysia Agreement and identify if the conditions set were met.

“We don’t want to refer to the 20-point agreement, because what is important is the sincerity of the government to develop Sabah.

“We all know Sabah is not developed because the political situation in the state was in chaos, change of leadership, party every nine years... that’s the reason Sabah citizens suffer, not because of the federal government, but because of political instability,” he said in Parliament.

He said this changed when Umno and BN came to power, allowing it to start catching up with the rest of the country.

The amendments to the Sedition Act 1948 being debated will seek to cement calls for secession as a crime under the colonial-era law.

Calling secessions demands by groups such as Sabah Sarawak Keluar Malaysia (SSKM) “crazy”, the Umno lawmaker said these calls put Malaysia at risk of separatist unrest such as experienced in Acheh, Indonesia and the southern Philippines.