KOTA KINABALU, Sept 17 — Opposition MPs in east Malaysia rejected today the prime minister’s belief that they would not support a constitutional amendment to put Sabah and Sarawak as equal partners in the federation of Malaysia once more.
Sabah politicians from Umno and Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR) said there was no reason for them to resist the amendment, adding that doing so would be tantamount to committing “political suicide”.
“I am confident that all Sabah and Sarawak MPs from both sides of the political divide will vote for the amendment. It would be short of political suicide for any MP from the two states not to support the amendment,” said Sabah Umno secretary Datuk Masidi Manjun.
“I am also confident that MPs from Umno and PAS in peninsular will support the amendment knowing the political repercussions if they don’t.
“As it is, which party dares not to support the amendment to return to the two Borneo states what was rightly theirs?” he asked in a statement.
Masidi who is also Karannan assemblyman was responding to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad statement earlier today that the government does not have a time frame to restore equal status to Sabah and Sarawak because it meant changing the Federal Constitution.
The PM explained that doing so required support from two-thirds of parliamentarians, which his Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition and its allies in Parti Warisan Sabah and Upko did not have. He expressed doubt that Opposition MPs would support their Bill.
PH and the two Sabah parties control 128 out of the 222 seats in the Dewan Rakyat; a total of 148 is required for a constitutional change.
Masidi pointed out that the 56 MPs from Sabah and Sarawak formed a strong bloc that is pertinent for any west Malaysian party’s decision-making.
He added that any insinuation that the federal Opposition would not support the amendment was a convenient excuse not to go ahead.
“It would be preferable to table the necessary constitutional amendment in the Dewan Rakyat in the coming October sitting. Making an assumption that the Opposition won’t support it would only creates suspicion that the government of the day is not serious in getting it done, and is giving a convenient excuse not to give Sabah and Sarawak their rightful place in the Federation,” he said.
STAR president Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan, a long time Sabah rights activist, said that it seemed that the PH government was already making disclaimers for not being able to fulfill its promise.
“At first I was encouraged… now I am discouraged because it seems they are looking for excuses already.
“Sabah and Sarawak will surely support the amendment but it has to include all rights accorded to us under MA63.
“Restoring Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution alone is useless if Sabah's other Constitutional rights are ignored and not implemented like the revenue rights in Article 112C/112D and those in Schedule 10,” said the Keningau MP.
Article 1(2) originally stated that the federation of Malaysia comprised the states of Malaya (Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Melaka, Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Penang, Perak, Perlis, Selangor and Terengganu), the Borneo states (Sabah and Sarawak), and Singapore (before its expulsion in August 1965).
But an amendment to the Constitution in the 1970s saw Sabah and Sarawak recategorised as among the 13 states in Malaysia.
Beluran MP Datuk Seri Ronald Kiandee said the Malaysia Agreement 1963 issue has been at the forefront of Sabah politics regardless of which side of the political divide its MPs stood.
“The government for sure will have the support of us all if amendments are tabled in Parliament,” he told Malay Mail.
“The government does not need to wait until they have 2/3 majority in Parliament to table the amendments. It should be their priority,” he said.
The chairman of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee also said that there were issues in the MA63 that do not need constitutional amendments, such as a return of 40 per cent revenue to the state.
“For example, under Section 112C and D of the Federal Constitution, it says that 40 per cent needs to be returned to the State. The federal government can start enforcing that. Why need a committee to look into a straightforward issue like that?” Kiandee asked.
In Sarawak, Kapit MP Datuk Alexander Nanta Linggi also agreed that there were already provisions for Sabah and Sarawak in the Federal Constitution that have been eroded over the years and which could be put right immediately without constitutional amendments.
“One of the things we observe is over the years the number of seats in Sabah and Sarawak has dropped below 30 per cent overall out of 222 in Dewan Rakyat.
“We can start by putting more parliamentary seats for east Malaysia so that we would go back to the previous combined number — a little bit more than 30 per cent,” the pro-tem secretary-general of the Gabungan Parti Sarawak coalition said.
In the previous arrangement under MA63, Singapore, Sabah, Sarawak accounted for slightly over one-third of parliamentary seats, which Nanta said ensured Malaya did not overly dominate the legislative body.
“We will vote for any Bills that serve the interest of Sarawak.
“If there's any Bill, if there's any necessity of Bills to be produced in Parliament to restore the rights and privileges of Sarawak, we will support it,” said the Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) secretary general.
PBB is one of the component parties in the ruling Gabungan Parti Sarawak state government.
