‘Fewer heartaches, quarrels if PSC set up before amendment Bill tabled’

KUCHING: The soon- to- beestablished Parliamentary Select Committee ( PSC) on the implementation of Malaysia Agreement 1963 ( MA63) should have been set up before the tabling of the Constitution Bill (Amendment 2019).

Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Masing, who asserted this yesterday, said the establishment of the PSC on MA63 before the tabling of the amendment Bill would have saved MPs a lot of ‘ heartaches and quarrels’ on matters of great importance to all Malaysians.

“PH ( Pakatan Harapan) Minister of Law VK Liew ( Datuk Liew Vui Keong) should have followed the suggestion of ( Santubong MP) Dato Sri Wan Junaidi ( Tuanku Jaafar), if he ( Liew) wasn’t too proud to be corrected by GPS (Gabungan Parti Sarawak) MPs on this matter.

“Now we are going to do what should have been done in the first place. I guess it’s better late than never,” he said in a statement to The Borneo Post yesterday.

Masing, who is Parti Rakyat Sarawak ( PRS) president, said it is high time to right the wrong which was done due to pride and politicking.

He also hoped that PH MPs from Sarawak and Sabah would stop politicking and ‘ try to be heroes’ on the issue, for the good of all Malaysians.

“Let’s give Sarawak and Sabah the equal status as the two regions rightly deserve as enshrined in MA63. And Malaya, please stop short- changing us anymore,” he added.

He made these remarks in response to Liew’s announcement on Saturday that a PSC will be established to oversee the implementation of MA63.

According to Liew, the committee will involve selected MPs to complement the Cabinet Special Committee on issues pertaining to MA63.

“We (the federal government) realise that a committee involving MPs is necessary to ensure the successful implementation of MA63.

“The PSC chairman will then be invited to become a permanent member of the Cabinet Special Committee to contribute towards the implementation of MA63,” he told reporters in Sandakan.

Liew said he would meet with Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg to explain further on the proposed amendments to the Federal Constitution.