STAR: S’wak, Sabah risk losing statehood should Article 1(2) amendment be passed in Parliament
KUCHING: Sarawak and Sabah could be robbed of their statehood should the amendment to Article 1( 2) of the Federal Constitution be passed in Parliament, cautions State Reform Party Sarawak (STAR) president Lina Soo.
According to her, statehood is the political process of being recognised as an independent sovereign nation, which can sign treaties with other nations.
However, the passing of this amendment could deny Sarawak and Sabah their ‘ Borneo states’ status, she said.
Soo also pointed out that the Pakatan Harapan (PH) politicians from Sarawak had been harping on ‘equal partnership’, yet they could not define what it really meant.
“Perhaps the intention was to confuse us anyway. In fact, there’s no constitutional or legal provision for ‘equal partnership’ to exist in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 ( MA63), or the Federal Constitution.
“Equal partnership is just an attractive concept – a mere political cliché.
“Even amending Article 1( 2) from the original MA63 does not mean ‘equal partnership’. It merely means restoring Sarawak to its original constitutional status as a ‘component nation, which formed the federation, but not as an equal partner’.
“At best, any amendment should mean no federal domination, with Sarawak to be consulted as ‘equal partner’, undefined,” she told reporters here yesterday.
Soo also questioned that should there be ‘equal partnership’, would this mean that Sarawak would have one-third of the total 222 parliamentary seats, one-third of the annual budgetary allocation, or a Sarawakian to become Prime Minister on rotation basis.
On MA63, she regarded it as ‘sacrosanct and untouchable’ – until all nations that signed the international treaty could go back to the negotiation table.
Adding on, she pointed out that the Parliament, the federal government or the judiciary of Malaysia had no jurisdiction to alter the MA63 in any way – any change would require all the original signatories to agree, which must then receive royal assent from the Queen of England.
Soo lamented that Sarawak and Sabah had lost so much under the Federation of Malaysia, noting that the Parliament had passed laws without the consent of Sarawak State Legislative Assembly ( DUN) to usurp the state’s powers and take its oil and gas through the Petroleum Development Act ( PDA), and also reduced Sarawak’s territorial seas from 12 nautical miles to three nautical miles through Territorial Sea Act (TSA).
For Sabah, Soo said it had lost Labuan, and was burdened by a large illegal immigrant population.
In this respect, she claimed that ‘the proponents and champions of the amendment, who are supposed to protect our Borneo states, have lost their direction’.
“The claims by ( Minister in Prime Minister’s Department) Datuk Liew Vui Keong, PH Sarawak and PH Sabah that the amendment is in line with the spirit of MA63 and satisfies the aspiration and hopes of the people of Sarawak and Sabah, are (attempts of) pulling the wool over our eyes in their scheme to reduce our state sovereignty and take away more state rights.
“The amendment is a disgrace and an insult to all patriotic Sarawakians and Sabahans,” she said.
Soo said any Sarawak MP and DUN member, who supported this amendment, should hang their heads in shame for consenting to become accomplices in the continued bullying, domination and exploitation of Sarawak and Sabah.
She called upon all Sarawak and Sabah parliamentarians to boycott, and to not vote for this amendment – ‘letting the Bill die this time’.
She also proposed for Sarawakians and Sabahans to call or send WhatsApp messages to their MPs, telling them to vote ‘No’ in Parliament.
Soo also called upon the Sarawak and Sabah governments to convene a special DUN sitting to bring Article 1(2) to the House to enable fully-informed decision, not just by the elected lawmakers but also by the people.
“I propose that British and Singapore representatives be invited to attend the DUN sittings as by being signatories to the MA63, their obligations are still very much alive today, as long as the MA63 exists.
“The sovereignty and political future of both Sarawak and Sabah are at stake – we must take action to save our future generations from another round of 50 more years of hegemony from the federal government. Enough is enough,” she stressed.