Lost ‘golden opportunity’ to restore status – Baru
KUCHING: The failure of the MPs from the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) to vote on the Federal Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2019 was a lost of ‘golden opportunity’ to restore the status of Sarawak and Sabah, said Sarawak PKR chairman Baru Bian.
Baru, who is also Works Minister, expressed his sadness and disappointment that the MPs from GPS and opposition from Sabah failed to see the need to support the sincere attempt by Pakatan Harapan (PH) government to restore the status of Sarawak and Sabah based on the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
He said the golden opportunity to restore the status of these two states had been dashed because these elected representatives did not have the guts even to vote on the proposed Amendment to Article 1 (2) of the Federal Constitution in the Dewan Rakyat last Tuesday night.
The Selangau MP said they would go down in history for failing to right the wrong done by the elected representatives from Sarawak in 1976 with the exception of a few.
“To me the excuses given by GPS MPs that this amendment is not holistic etc has no merit because the wordings of the proposed amendment is exactly the same as the original version in 1963.
“Sarawakians now you be the judge!,” he said when commenting on the cause for the Amendment Bill 2019 failed to obtain twothirds majority support.
The bill, which was tabled by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad for second reading and debated for nearly seven hours, only garnered 138 votes after MPs from the opposition bloc abstained from voting on it.
Meanwhile DAP Central Executive Committee member Dr John Brian Anthony said by rejecting this amendment which was exactly the same wordings as MA63, the GPS was rejecting MA63.
“We have missed the golden opportunity to put right what is wrong,” said Dr John, who is also Bintulu Port Authority chairman, to Bernama.
Nevertheless, he said the PH government should continue to work harder towards achieving what was fair and rights for Sabah and Sarawak.
Hopefully those from the opposition parties such as the GPS and Barisan Nasional (BN) would understand the issue much better later and support PH’s effort to give Sabah and Sarawak their rights as provided for under MA63, he said.
Meanwhile, Amanah Sarawak chairman Mohamad Fidzuan Zaidi was deeply disappointed with the attitude of MPs from GPS, BN and PAS for their neutral stand pertaining to the amendments of the federal constitution.
He said the technical committee has long been formed since the days of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
“Not only that, the BN Sarawak (at that time) also sent their entourage to London ... By right, the first step was to change the status, and the technical matters and the rest will be discussed later,” said Mohamad Fidzuan, who is also a board member of the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (FAMA) Sarawak.
In the meantime, Batang Lupar MP Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim, in a statement said, the she and her fellow MPs from GPS were of the opinion that the matter should be thoroughly studied, not just saying that Sabah and Sarawak as ‘equal partners’ in Malaysia.
“Many issues pertaining to MA63 need to be addressed one by one and we can’t support it blindly for fear that it will result in the deterioration of the rights as ‘equal partner’ that has yet to be discussed in detail.
“We at GPS have voiced our view that this amendment to be brought to the Special Select Committee level but it was ignored.
“In fact, we are now being accused of betraying the interests of Sarawak and this is clearly not true,” Rohani said.
Hence, she pointed out specifically to all the people of Sarawak that GPS MPs did not reject the amendment, they just did not vote or took neutral approach that caused two-thirds majority failed to be obtained.
Meanwhile Sarawak PH chairman Chong Chieng Jen said by defeating the Federal Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2019, GPS had succeeded to embarrass the PH Government but at the expense of Sarawak and Sabah.
He said the amendment bill proposed by the PH government in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday was exactly the same version as of the 1963’s, word for word - the most direct step to restore Sabah and Sarawak to its original position in the federation when Malaysia was formed in 1963.
“GPS might have achieved its political interest, but it has again done great injustice to Sarawakians who have made them the Sarawak government.
“PH government may have suffered the embarrassment of having its Amendment Bill defeated, but what is more disheartening is that Sarawak lost a golden opportunity to put right the wrong that has been inflicted upon Sarawak 43 years ago,” Chong, who is also Sarawak DAP chairman and Stampin MP, said in a statement here yesterday. Bernama