KUCHING, Nov 26 — Sarawak will pick its own delegates to attend the first meeting of the Steering Committee of the review of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) next month, Speaker Datuk Amar Asfia Awang Nasar said today.

He said they will replace members of the committee from Sarawak named by de facto Law Minister Datuk Liew Vui Kiong last month.

“I do not know whether he speaks for us. Let us speak for ourselves, so we have decided to disregard members of the committee from Sarawak named by the federal minister,” Asfia told reporters after chairing the state Consultative Committee on MA63.

He said the new members of the Sarawak delegation will be chosen by Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Openg.

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“It is entirely up to him to decide on the number and composition of the delegation,” he said.

The first meeting of the 16-member Steering Committee of MA63 headed by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has been scheduled for December 17 in Putrajaya.

Abang Johari described the Steering Committee as favouring the federal government and was not a reflective of Sarawak as an equal partner to Malaya in the formation of Malaysia.

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Last month, Liew named Abang Johari, State Attorney-General Datuk Talat Mahmmod Abdul Rashid and Works Minister Baru Bian as members of the Steering Committee from Sarawak.

The other committee members are Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, Communication and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo.

Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah, Minsiter of International Trade and Industry Datuk Darell Leiking, Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook, Chief Secretary to the Government Datuk Seri Dr Ismail Bakar, Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Datuk David Wong Dak Wah, Attorney-General Tommy Thomas, Universiti Malaya Law Professor Prof Emeritus Datuk Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi and Sabah Attorney-General Zaleha Rose Pandin.

The Sarawak State Legislative Assembly had on November 6, 2018 unanimously passed a motion to form a Consultative Committee comprising of members of all the political parties from Gabungan Parti Sarawak and Sarawak Pakatan Harapan.

Today, Asfia said it imperative for the steering committee to review the financial provisions of Article 112D and Article 112D(3)of the Federal Constitution pursuant to the recommendations of the Inter-Governmental Committee Report (IGC).

“The restoration of Sarawak’s eroded state rights is meaningless without the review of the financial positions. It is like having an automobile but without battery and gasoline,” he said.

He said within the framework of Malaysia, the state seeks to maximise and expand the common areas of agreement and to minimise and narrow the margin of differences.

“We shall explore areas where we all can agree and areas we agree to disagree. There are issues, for instance, on immigration where we consider as non-negotiable.

“The territory of Sarawak, its territorial integrity land mass, continental shelf, seabed and subsoil are absolutely non-negotiation,” he said.

He added to concede on immigration is to open up the floodgate that would unleash a torrent of immigrants from across the border and those far outside Sarawak to sweep away the state population.

“Sarawak will then cease to exist. This is absolutely, completely and totally unacceptable,” Asfia said.

He said the Sarawak delegation will emphasise on the constitutional responsibilities of the federal government, including those which have been under-performed and where breaches have been committed over the past years that continue into the present and showing no signs of any change.