Liew to monitor proceedings of Sarawak DUN on MA63
KUCHING: Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Liew Vui Keong has pledged to closely monitor the resolution of the Sarawak Legislative Assembly ( DUN) on matters pertaining to Malaysia Agreement 1963 ( MA63).
“We wi l l wait for the DUN Sarwak to deal with it tomorrow ( April 30) and then after that we see what the decision on the motion wil l be. But I’m very happy that this is the desire of Sarawakians – wanting to restore whatever that had been agreed upon under MA63 to be hotly debated in the House tomorrow (April 30).
“I think we wait for that because I do not know what packages the House wants to resolve tomorrow,” he said when met by journalists after paying a courtesy call on Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg at Wisma Bapa Malaysia in Petra Jaya here yesterday.
Liew said he would be monitoring what is happening in DUN Sarawak today ( April 30) through live streaming on social media.
“I can look through the live streaming on social media, so it’s as good as I’m there. We want to see what happens in DUN Sarawak because these are the voices of the people translated through their YBs ( state assemblypersons).”
On the meeting with Abang Johar i , he descr ibed it as ‘ fruitful’, adding: “It has been a wonderful time together when we discussed various issues concerning the matters that are very close to the heart of Sarawakians.”
Asked to def ine ‘ fruitful’, Liew jested: “Fruitful in the sense that we agreed to come out smiling.”
He immediately added that they had agreed to look into various issues that had been brought up by Abang Johari as well as matters regarding MA63.
With them at the meeting were Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, Sarawak At torney General Datuk Talat Mahmood Abdul Rashid and political secretary to Liew, Martin Tommy.
Liew said Abang Johari “has been very passionate about MA63, and he wants to ensure that the rights of not only the Sarawakians but also of counterparts Sabah are wel l preserved pursuant to MA63”.
He said Abang Johari “wants everything to be looked into”, given that “there is no such thing as piecemeal in this case since the MA63 is a package”.
As far as MA63 is concerned, Liew pointed out that the historical facts remained the same, and that what had been agreed upon pursuant to MA63 ‘are there’.
“Like in Sarawak, you have the 18- point ( agreements) whereas in Sabah we have our 20- point ( agreements). These are the historical facts that cannot be altered or changed. I don’t think we have any disagreement on all that,” he said.
However, he admitted that some provisions of the Federal Constitution may be subject to interpretations.
Despite so, he asserted that it is pertinent for such matters to be left to some constitutional lawyers to look into.
Other matters, according to Liew, discussed at the meeting were on the relocation of the court registry from Kuching to Kota Kinabalu ( KK) and the extension of the Legal Profession Act ( LPA).
“But we have to deal with them one by one separately because they are not inter- related. With regard to the relocation of the court registry from Kuching to KK, I explained to the chief minister that I only came to know about it when it became an issue in the media.
“I quickly called up the court registrar and was told that it was the decision of the former CJ ( Chief Judge) together with the CJSS ( Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak) to look into the possibi lity of relocating the court registry.
“So having looked into that, the court registrar decided that they wil l not implement the relocation at this moment,” he explained.
To a question, he said Abang Johari “has made a strong object ion on the fact s that there was no consultat ion made”, hence he took this into consideration.
On what’s to come following the meeting, Liew responded: “I think I’m very positive about it and I’m happy that I have come here and received a warm welcome from my col leagues – the chief minister and the deputy chief minister. I think I should make it a habit to come to Kuching more often.”
Asked whether he would report to Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad on the outcome of the meeting, he said: “Of course, he is my boss. He’s the prime minister of Malaysia.”
According to Liew, the visit to Sarawak is his own initiative.
“I told him ( Dr Mahathir) that I would be visiting the Chief Minister of Sarawak and then he gave his blessings. He said ‘ very good’,” added Liew.