KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 — Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Liew Vui Keong said today he does not understand why Opposition MPs are opposed to amending the Federal Constitution in relation to the Malaysia Agreement 1963.
He said this is especially since the amendments would return Sabah and Sarawak to their pre-1963 position, where they would be regarded as equal partners in the federation instead of simply states.
“If you look at the agreement, it clearly stated the federation consists of Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore. In 1965, Singapore left us and it was amended in 1966 to remove the island, then another amendment in 1976 which resulted in Sabah and Sarawak becoming one of the states,” he said during a press conference at the Dewan Rakyat.
Liew admitted that although it took nearly 43 years for Sabah and Sarawak to seek equality, he noted the movement has gathered pace over the past two years.
“I do not understand the argument made by some of the Opposition MPs, and their reason for doing so when they did not even attend my address to hear my explanation,” he said.
Liew explained that the special committee chaired by the prime minister consisted of three levels: Steering, technical, and working. Each is tasked with looking at various clusters, including the economy, finance, forestry and territorial law, among others.
“The prime minister is accompanied by the chief ministers of Sabah and Sarawak, the federal minister and state minister, as well as the state attorney general and his federal counterpart.
“Also included are the state secretaries, several other MPs, academics and legal experts. So the entire process is quite large,” he said.
Liew said the Opposition MPs have thus far refused to meet him even though he has reached out to them.
“I invited them for an early breakfast today before the session started, but they did not turn up. Likewise, when I went to Kuching some time ago, they declined to meet.
“Nonetheless, I am still hoping they will meet me, since there is still time to bring up the matters that they spoke about during the debate,” he said.
Earlier today, in the Dewan Rakyat, a number of MPs from Sabah and Sarawak protested when Speaker Datuk Mohamad Ariffin Md Yusof said the first reading of the amendments would proceed, despite their claims of not having enough time to scrutinise the proposals.
