Amendment bill first step in restoring Sarawak’s status, says Chong

KUCHING: The amendment to Article 1 (2) of the Federal Constitution, tabled by the Pakatan Harapan ( PH)-led government in Parliament, is seen as the first step in restoring Sarawak’s position and legal status to that at the time of the formation of Malaysia.

In stating this, PH Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen said the structure of Article 1 (2) of the Federal Constitution remained exactly the same as that of the version made in 1963, with the exemption of the use of phrases ‘the State of Malaya’ and ‘the Borneo States’, as both phrases were no longer in use.

He also said it was exactly what the PH government intended to do with the amendment.

Chong, who is Stampin MP and also Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak chairman, expressed his regret in seeing the MPs from Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) resort to a walkout protest with Umno MPs when the amendment was tabled in Parliament.

“Is the GPS too embarrassed to accept the fact that it was the Barisan National (BN) that took away Sarawak’s rightful status back in 1976? And now, it is the PH government that has restored its rightful status.

“Why is GPS still taking its cue from Umno, despite having officially quit BN? The only reason for GPS to oppose the bill is that the passing of the bill will be a testament to the failure on the part of the previous BN government.

“For all the injustice that BN has done to Sarawak and Sabah, the PH government has taken steps to remedy it within one year from taking over the federal government,” Chong said in a statement yesterday.

He reiterated that the amendment was meant to set the legal framework right, putting Sabah and Sarawak as separate categories from the other 11 states in Peninsular Malaysia in line with the original structure in the Federal Constitution.

“It puts Sabah and Sarawak in the correct platform envisaged by our forefathers when Malaysia was formed. The amendment is only a starting point to the continuous process of devolution of powers, and also reinstating Sabah and Sarawak’s equal standing as the other states in Malaysia and it doesn’t stop there.”

Chong reassured all that the Malaysia Agreement 1963 ( MA63) Steering Committee and Technical Committee would still continue with the meetings and discussions regarding the devolution of powers. He called upon GPS MPs to rethink their position, put aside their ego and pride, and support the amendment.

“After all, their parties had betrayed Sarawak once by supporting the amendment put up by Umno in 1976; after 43 years, are they going to stand together with Umno again to betray Sarawak a second time in Parliament?” Chong questioned.

The 1976 amendment by the BN-led federal government then, stated that both Sarawak and Sabah were states of the Federation of Malaysia.