Restore Sabah status first — PBRS

KENINGAU: Pensiangan MP Arthur Joseph Kurup welcomed the statement by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Bin Mohamad that the mid-term review of the Eleventh Malaysia Plan would provide more focus on Sabah and Sarawak.

“But the first order should be to restore the original position of Sabah as an equal partner with Malaya instead of one similar to the states in Malaya. This will require amending Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution to its original wording as it was back in 1970.

“This will then comply with Article 4 of the Malaysian Agreement 1963 (MA63) which states that the Federation of Malaysia should comprise the states of Malaya and Sabah and Sarawak (and Singapore).”

“I hope the new government will table this constitutional amendment as soon as possible during this current sitting. I will support 100 per cent and I believe my fellow MPs from Sabah and Sarawak will support it as well. Once Sabah is restored to its original position then it will put Sabah in a better and stronger position to claim our other rights.”

“There are other rights which Sabah needs to claim but we must first restore our legal status under the Federal Constitution. So, let’s start with this first,” said Arthur in a statement at the Parliament lobby after the delivery of the mid-term review by the PM on Thursday.

On the question of what other rights that Sabah should claim, Arthur mentioned rights such the use of English, immigration, taxation, and oil rights.

“I hope the new government will look into these issues seriously and start taking action instead of forming more committees because we have already formed many committees in the past. The time for action is now.”

Earlier this month the government announced that it would be setting up another three committees to look into matters under MA63.