Claims have implications on Federal, State leaders
Published on: Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Kota Kinabalu: Former Sabah Chief Minister Tan Sri Harris Salleh (pic) again dismissed claims and accusations by both government and opposition leaders that the Federal Government has taken away Sabah's rights, saying they have no basis and that it is nothing more than a political gimmick.In a statement, he said their claims and accusations have serious implications on the integrity of all state Chief Ministers, including former Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak."They imply as if they (the Chief Ministers) had either been bought by the Federal Government through whatever means or were simply stupid or ignorant.
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"These claims and accusations implicate the standing and integrity of all Chief Ministers including Tan Sri Musa Aman who has been in his seat over 10 years. "Surely, he would have detected any infringements of state rights by the Federal Government, and would not have tolerated them," said Harris. The claims and accusations, he said, also implicated all former Prime Ministers as well since 1963 namely Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Abdul Razak, Tun Hussein Onn, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tun Abdullah Badawi. He insisted that they had never been unfair to Sabah and Sarawak. "I can say without hesitation that the claims and accusations are not only untrue but a political gimmick," he said.
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He pointed out that the government and opposition leaders who have been making such claims and accusations thought that "Sabah's dark" days were over when Dato Seri Najib Razak became Prime Minister who was considered "under obligation" to meet the leaders' demands after the results of the 13th general election."These claims and accusations only came about after that general election when the BN did not obtain a simple majority from Tanah Melayu's Members of Parliament."
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"Najib had to depend on the 60 Members of Parliament from Sabah and Sarawak for his majority support in Parliament. Since then had been considered under obligation and as such agreed to whatever claims or requests made by Sabah," he said.He noted that to date, the government and opposition leaders have only spoken about rights being taken forcibly by the Federal Government on two subjects which are on the restructuring of the Federation from three partnerships (Sabah, Sarawak & Semenanjung) to thirteen partnerships 13 States of Malaysia), and the rights over oil and gas. He insisted that these rights were not taken by the Federal Government but were transferred by amendment of the Malaysian Constitution with the support of Sabah and Sarawak representatives in the Federal Government.In the case of oil and gas, he said it was transferred by way of an Act of Parliament and by an agreement signed both by Sarawak (which signed first) and Sabah. He noted that the state Chief Ministers since Sabah attained independence through the formation of the Federation of Malaysia were the late Tun Fuad Stephens 1963-1964, Tan Sri Peter Lo 1964-1966 (who was part of the negotiating leaders from Sabah on the terms and condition of Sabah's entry, the late Tun Datu Mustapha Datu Harun 1965-1976, himself 1976-1985, Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan 1985-1994 and Tan Sri Musa Aman 2003 to the present.He said all of them were experienced and dedicated, and with the exception of Mustapha and himself, were also educated. "They were well versed with the Malaysian Constitution and would not have condoned or have accepted any of the state's rights being taken by the Federal Government."Surely, the States of Sabah and Sarawak, if they deemed fit, could have passed resolutions in their respective Assemblies, and their representatives at the Cabinet level and Parliament would have voiced them out. None of these were done. "This shows that whatever so-called rights that were supposed to have been taken away were actually given away through mutual understanding for the smooth administration of the country," he said.He also said that Najib had claimed to be the only Prime Minister since the formation of Malaysia to have visited Sabah and Sarawak most frequently, and also to have allocated more funds to these two states. "This claim is true. But he said because of Najib's fondness of the Borneo states, the government and opposition leaders saw it as a golden opportunity. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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