Datuk Lau Pang Heng
KUCHING (April 13): The Sarawak Patriots Association (SPA) has called on Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to reconvene Parliament to discuss the status of Sarawak and Sabah in the Federation of Malaysia, following the prime minister’s recent announcement that Sarawak and Sabah are now considered as a region respectively instead of a state.
“SPA felt that any changes to the status of Sarawak and Sabah in Malaysia, the three partners namely, Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak need to have a round table discussion to reach consensus,” said its chairman Datuk Lau Pang Heng in a press statement today.
He said once a consensus is reached, the three parties could execute a Tripartite Agreement with agreed terms to amend Malaysia Act 1963, Annex A to the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) and the Federal Constitution under Article VIII of MA63.
“Then, the respective Sabah’s and Sarawak’s Legislative Council must approve before the amendments are brought to Parliament for approval. Members of Parliament cannot bind their respective Legislative Council by voting any Acts in Parliament,” he added.
Lau said prior to the formation of Malaysia, Sarawak and Sabah were nation states.
“On September 16, 1963, Sabah, Sarawak, Malaya and Singapore formed Malaysia. These were the original four partners in the formation of the Federation of Malaysia. However, Singapore left Malaysia in 1965,” he added.
Following that, Lau said Sabah and Sarawak were relegated to a state status on Aug 27, 1976 and such action had contradicted the original MA63 Annex A.
Meanwhile, Lau said based on a survey conducted by SPA on 500 people, they found out that a whopping 95 per cent of the respondents preferred for Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution to be amended to be in line with the MA63.
He pointed out the survey involved Sarawakians between the age of 21 and 70 years old and they were randomly selected from their 5,800 respondents’ master list.
“A total 88 per cent of those surveyed felt that the prime minister did not have the authority to use his executive power to make that announcement. It is the Parliament that has the power to change Sarawak and Sabah status in Malaysia,” he said.
Lau also pointed out that 85 per cent of the respondents felt Muhyiddin’s announcement was only to help Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) to get votes during the next state election and to rally Sarawakians to support him when the 15th general election is called.