KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 24 ― The federal government should make space for Sarawak and Sabah in the new National Security Council (NSC), Parti Rakyat Sarawak president Tan Sri James Masing said in a reminder of the equal status of the two Borneo states to the peninsula.
The Sarawak state minister was reported by The Borneo Post today as backing a fellow state Barisan Nasional (BN) colleague who urged Putrajaya to include the chief ministers of both Sabah and Sarawak in the powerful council following the recent passage of the NSC Bill.
“I agree with him. Sarawak and Sabah should be represented at NSC. Putrajaya should recognise and understand that Sarawak and Sabah are two of the three entities which formed Malaysia and therefore should sit in NSC,” he was quoted as saying.
Masing’s remarks came after Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) president Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian’s calls for the two chief ministers’ inclusion during his debate on the NSC Bill in the Dewan Negara.
Among other things, Dr Sim had called for the protection of the interests of the country’s founding members Sarawak and Sabah at all levels of the federal government, mooting an amendment to the NSC Bill’s Clause 6 to have their chief ministers or the two state government’s appointed representatives be added as NSC’s permanent members.
“I also wish to suggest amendments to Clause 18 and Clause 22 to include mandatory agreements from the Chief Ministers of Sabah and Sarawak before any action to declare an ‘area of safety’ in both states is taken,” the federal lawmaker was quoted saying during the debate.
He also said the officers in power in any security area declared in Sabah and Sarawak should originate from those two states and be appointed with the consent of the Sabah and Sarawak chief ministers.
In his proposed legal amendment before the NSC Bill was put to the vote, Dr Sim had also said the power to declare a security area upon advice from the NSC should be given to the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong instead of the Prime Minister.
The Borneo Post also reported Sarawak PKR vice-chairman See Chee How urging the state government to study the impact of the NSC Bill and protest the concentration of power in the NSC headed and appointed by the prime minister.
“The state governments of Sarawak and Sabah should not keep quiet on the insidious statement by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim in his winding-up speech at the Dewan Negara that the chief ministers of Sabah and Sarawak need not be included in the NSC because security issues fall exclusively under the jurisdiction of the Federal government and that the chief ministers of the two East Malaysian states do not have the expertise in security matters.
“It is an insult to the states and the people, for the legislature to empower the Prime Minister to declare any area in the country as a security area, under clause 18, upon the advice of the NSC in which the state governments who have better knowledge of their states are not represented,” he was quoted telling The Borneo Post yesterday.
On Tuesday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim had however reportedly said in his winding-up speech in the Dewan Negara that NSC members are selected based on their expertise, with too many members being inappropriate for the Council’s main function that involves security and state secrets.
On Tuesday night, the Dewan Negara passed the controversial NSC Bill without any amendments, despite concerns raised by BN senators on the proposed law’s constitutionality and potential room for power abuse.
