We abstained as many issues under MA63 not addressed — Rohani

KUCHING: Gabungan Parti Sarawak ( GPS) members of parliament chose not to support the Bill to amend Article 1( 2) of the Federal Constitution on Tuesday night as they were of the opinion that further review was required.

Batang Lupar MP Dato Sri Rohani Abdul Karim said GPS MPs felt the proposed amendment only covered the restoration of Sabah and Sarawak as ‘ equal partners’ in Malaysia, but did not address the many other issues related to the Malaysia Agreement 1963 ( MA63).

“A lot of issues pertaining to MA63 have to be given due attention, which is why we could not support the Bill blindly for fear that it might influence our status as an ‘equal partner’ which has yet to be fine-tuned,” she said in a statement yesterday.

Rohani said the Pakatan Harapan (PH) federal government should take note of the failure to acquire the required two-thirds majority for the amendment Bill, adding Putrajaya must realise that Sarawakians are taking the matter seriously and want the constitutional amendments to be done in a holistic, rather than hasty manner.

According to her, GPS had suggested that the proposed amendment be referred to the Special Select Committee for further action, but their request was ignored.

She asserted that what GPS MPs did in not supporting the amendment Bill was to ‘defend the interest of Sarawak’, and lamented that there were those who accused them of otherwise.

“We do not want our rights as Sarawakians to be boxed or that the proposed constitutional amendment does not clearly explain the rights of Sarawak,” she added.

Rohani pointed out that wording ‘in pursuant to the spirit of Malaysia Agreement 1963’ must be included in order to give surety to Sarawak that its state rights will be returned.

As such, she told Sarawakians that GPS did not reject the amendment Bill, but chose to abstain from voting in a move to deny the two-thirds majority.

“The people of Sarawak have to understand that the amendment Bill tabled by the federal government is just a book with a nice cover, but the content is not there.

“We will continue taking actions necessary to fight for the interest of Sarawakians within the context of the Malaysia Agreement 1963.”