PM: Sabah, S’wak special rights guaranteed
KUALA LUMPUR: Sabah and Sarawak will continue to enjoy their respective special rights as enshrined in the Federal Constitution and within the context of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 ( MA63), pledged Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
In delivering the second reading of the Constitution Bill (Amendment 2019), the prime minister said the proposed amendment to Article 1( 2) of the Federal Constitution will not in any way alter the functions of the federal government and the state governments under the concept of federalism.
“Sabah and Sarawak will continue to enjoy the special rights guaranteed under the Federal Constitution and MA63.
“Such status will not alter the rights of other states in the Federation of Malaysia,” he said in Parliament yesterday when reading the amendment Bill – seconded by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail – that seeks to restore the rightful status of Sabah and Sarawak.
Dr Mahathir, who is Langkawi MP, said the latest proposed amendment on Article 1(2) should read ‘ The States of the Federation shall be (a) the States of Malaya namely, Johore, Kedah, Kelantan, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Penang, Perak, Perlis,
Sabah and Sarawak will continue to enjoy the special rights guaranteed under the Federal Constitution and MA63.
Selangor and Terengganu; and (b) the Borneo States, namely Sabah and Sarawak.’
To suggestions that Article 160(2) of the Federal Constitution should also be amended, he said ‘ The Federation’ in the Constitution – unless the context requires otherwise – had the meaning hereby respectively assigned, which is ‘The Federation means the Federation established under the Federation of Malaya Agreement 1957’.
Dr Mahathir told the Dewan Rakyat that this Article remained relevant in today’s context given that the Federation had been named ‘Malaysia’.
“In the general context, the ‘ Federation’ refers to Malaysia like what Article 1(1) of the Federal Constitution states.
“‘ The Federation’ under Article 160(2) of the Federal Constitution does not affect the status of Sabah and Sarawak as among the components in the Federation of Malaysia,” he explained.
As such, he said the federal government had no plans to introduce an amendment to redefine ‘ The Federation’ under Article 160( 2) of the Federal Constitution.
In line with the concept of federalism, the prime minister said the power of the state governments of Sabah and Sarawak remained enshrined under the Ninth Schedule of the Federal Constitution.
He added that the power of Parliament for federal government as provided under the Federal List and the power of the State Legislative Assembly ( DUN) for the state governments as provided under the Ninth Schedule of the Federal Constitution were there to stay.
The same applied to the power provided under the Concurrent List which the Parliament and DUN shared obligation, he said.
“Sabah and Sarawak are to continue enjoying special rights, including the special grants to the state governments of Sabah and Sarawak as well as other matters such as land and special status for Sabahans and Sarawakians as provided under the Legislative List of Ninth Schedule of the Federal Constitution,” he said.
Dr Mahathir also assured that the amendment would not bring about any changes to ongoing negotiations between the federal government and Sabah and Sarawak to review MA63.
He added that such negotiations would carry on until all parties involved were satisfied with the discussions and consensus agreed upon.
“In this context, I would like to stress that Malaysia has to be regarded as an entity without distinguishing between West Malaysia and East Malaysia, whereby revenue generated by Malaysia has to be distributed fairly among all the states in Malaysia, and according to the needs.
“The unity of this country must be of primary agenda of all parties that came together to form Malaysia so as to ensure that Malaysia can continue to progress and be on a par with other developed nations across the world,” he said.
Dr Mahathir pointed out that the amendment Bill represented a noble effort of the federal government to pave the way for constitutional amendment in line with meeting the aspiration of all Malaysians.
“Whatever actions engaged by the federal government have been given thorough consideration, taking the implication and impact on Malaysians into account.
“And it is not something done in a hasty manner in order to meet the needs of certain parties,” he added.
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Prime Minister