Parliament nod to Constitution (Amendment) Bill will recognise Sabah, Sarawak demands

KUALA LUMPUR: The Bill to amend the Federal Constitution relevant to the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), which was unanimously passed in the Dewan Rakyat today, would truly give recognition to the demands and special status of Sabah and Sarawak upon joining Malaysia in the Federal Constitution.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the amendments would see MA63 placed on an equal footing with the Federal Agreement of 1948 and 1957 as it detailed out the stage of the formation and the direction of Malaysia from the Federation of Malaya 1948 and to the direction of the Federation of Malaya 1957 when the Federal Constitution was being adopted in 1957.

"When Malaysia was formed in 1963, except several items of safeguards, legal and special position that have been agreed upon, some promises in the MA63 were not included in the Federal Constitution and as such the Agreement itself was not truly recognised.

"What we are doing here is to place the MA63 in the Federal Constitution in order to become the real Malaysia in the context of the three agreements - Federal Agreement 1948, Federal Agreement 1957 and the MA63.

"It gives dignity to Sabah and Sarawak as being part of Malaysia, which then created this country," he said in a statement after the Dewan Rakyat passed the Bill today.

Wan Junaidi further said that by recognising MA63 in the Federal Constitution, the government could now refer to all the promises made in 1963 in detail and spelt out in the Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) report, which was the in-depth study of the Cobbold Commission Report on the demands of Sabah and Sarawak.

Meanwhile, Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal said seven Warisan MPs voted in favour of the Bill today as Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution as it is the main article that defines the status of Sabah and Sarawak.

"We want to stress that we can still agree to matters that will benefit the country and Sabah without having to sign any MoU (memorandum of understanding) with the government and Pakatan Harapan," he told a press conference at the Parliament building.

The press conference was also attended by the seven Warisan MPs, namely Datuk Ignatius Dorell Leiking (Penampang), Datuk Mohd Azis Jamman (Sepanggar), Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis (Kota Belud), Ma'mun Sulaiman (Kalabakan), Ahmad Hassan (Papar) dan Datuk Rozman Isli (Labuan).

-- BERNAMA