S'wak to remain one of three regions – Abg Jo

KUCHING: Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg wants to "stick to the original" of the Federal Constitution which says Sarawak is one of the three regions in Malaysia.

He said he could not bring himself to concur with Sabah Chief Minister Sabah Datuk Seri Penaglima Shafie Apdal's proposal that Sabah and Sarawak be regarded as just one region.

"The (Federal) Constitution says three regions -- Sabah, Sarawak and the Federation of Malaya, we do not go beyond the Constitution. We stick to the original," he told a news conference after chairing a meeting at Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) headquarters off Jalan Bako here yesterday.

Abang Johari, who is Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) chairman and PBB president, said Sabah could come up with any proposal but Sarawak would choose to stay out of it.

Asked whether the recent visit of Shafie to Sarawak touched on the subject matter, Abang Johari said: "They (Sabahan leaders) came, we received them, had coffee, nothing much."

When asked further if Sarawak would work with Sabah on forming a joint committee to address the issue, the Satok assemblyman said GPS and Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) shared something in common, which is that both their acronyms end with an 's'.

"That we are friends, that we are state ministers, that's it lah," added Abang Johari.

Of late, Shafie proposed that Sarawak and Sabah be regarded as just one region in the Federation of Malaysia.

He was quoted as saying that he had discussed the matter with Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad during a recent meeting on Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).

The Sabahan leader said he was confident that the federal government would approve the proposal to treat Sabah and Sarawak as one territory.