Dayak MPs have reservations on KL's commitment
Published on: Tuesday, September 18, 2018
Kuching: Two Dayak politicians on Monday expressed their reservations at the Federal Government's commitment on returning Sabah and Sarawak's rightful status after the Malaysia Agreement (MA63) is studied.Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr James Masing said there was no necessity to conduct a study on the MA63 as proposed by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in Kota Kinabalu Sunday night.He said the MA63 was a United Nations Chartered Agreement out of which the formation of Malaysia as a federation was established.
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"Let the three remaining signatories do the audit whether there has been any breach of the understanding of MA63," he said, referring to Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak which are still in the Federation of Malaysia while the fourth signatory, Singapore, was expelled in 1965.Masing, who is also Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) President, said if there were breaches of the MA63, then the three would decide whether such breaches were serious enough to nullify the agreement."The so-called study is just the decoy to delay the process of returning the equal status to Sarawak and Sabah," he claimed.Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS Baru) President Cobbold John Lusoi reminded Sarawakians not to be too eager with the commitment from Federal Government to return equal status to Sarawak.
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He said what Dr Mahathir had told Sarawakians and Sabahans in Kota Kinabalu on Sunday was merely a repeat of what his predecessor, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, had often said each time he visited Sarawak or Sabah."Therefore, there is no need for us to expect too much from Dr Mahathir's commitment, otherwise we will all be disappointed," said Lusoi.
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"That is why I urge all of us not to be too optimistic, but at the same time, we must continue to remind the Federal Government to return back our rights as equal status to Malaya."When we formed Malaysia in 1963, we were on the same level with Malaya and Sabah when our forefathers signed the Malaysia Agreement, but because the Federal Government under Najib's father, Tun Razak Hussein, amended Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution in 1976, the status of Sarawak and Sabah was downgraded to be among the states in Malaysia," he added.Lusoi said Sarawakians and Sabahans wanted the Federal Government to revert Article 1(2) of the Constitution to its original wording that stated that the federation of Malaysia comprised the states of Malaya (Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Melaka, Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Penang, Perak, Perlis, Selangor and Terengganu), the Borneo states (Sabah and Sarawak), and Singapore (before the nation was expelled).Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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