No question of secession: DAP
Published on: Tuesday, September 02, 2014
Kota Kinabalu: The DAP on Monday said it never advocated that Sabah and Sarawak should secede from the Federation of Malaysia.Its Advisor, Lim Kit Siang, said that under the Malaysian Law, secession is considered sedition."So, as far the Dap is concerned, we have never advocate for secession (of Sabah and Sarawak from Malaysia)," he said in a media conference at Hotel Shangri-La.
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He said what the DAP has been advocating is for a democratic change or reform to the democracy in the country."So, it (secession of Sabah and Sarawak from Malaysia) does not arise at all as far as the DAP is concerned," he said.He also firmly believed that no political parties in the country have ever called for the two East Malaysia states to secede from the Federation of Malaysia.On Saturday, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said a small group is stridently urging that Sabah is taken out from Malaysia.
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He said the group is making claims that there was no development in Sabah and, thus, efforts must be made to take Sabah out of Malaysia.He said the voices should not be tolerated and that action would be initiated against them for trying to create such a situation.
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On the other hand, Lim is calling on all Members of Parliament, whether Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat in Sabah, Sarawak and the peninsula to support a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI).He said the RCI is meant to access whether the dreams and aspirations of Sabahans and Sarawakians in forming Malaysia had been fulfilled or not in the last five decades.In 2012, he said, he made a similar call for the RCI but there was no support or response from Barisan Nasional MPs in Sabah, Sarawak and West Malaysia to examine whether the terms of the oath of loyalty of the Sabahans from the interior five decades ago in exchange for support to the formation of Malaysia had been honoured.He said the issue, to this day, still remains a hot issues among the people of Sabah.In fact, he said, as time passes, the people of Sabah are even more focused on this aspiration.A such, he said, Sabah DAP launched the Batu Sumpah Keningau Campaign last Sunday to canvas for greater awareness of the rights and expectations of the people of Sabah when Malaysia was formed 51 years ago."And also to support for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to assess whether the dreams and aspirations of Sabahans and Sarawakians in forming Malaysia had been fulfilled or betrayed in the past five decades," he said.Most Sabah students, he said, are ignorant of the three most historic events in Sabah because they are not in the school history books.The events are:- 20-Points and Keningau Oath Stone- The "666" tragedy in 1976 which changed the course of history, not only in Sabah but also in Malaysia- And million of illegal immigrants who were unlawfully and unconstitutionally given citizenship/voter status through alleged scams like "Project Mahathir" that undermined Sabah and Malaysia.The Batu Sumpah Keningau campaign, Lim said, was aimed to restore both history and the memory of the people of Sabah.Before the launching of the DAP Batu Sumpah Awareness Campaign in Keningau on Sunday, he said, there was an earlier programme for the annual ritual ceremony on the Oath Stone that was scheduled at the compound of the Keningau District Office compound where the Oath Stone is."But the Keningau District Office compound gates were locked and thus prevented public access to the Oath Stone", he said.Lim said he was informed that permission had been granted earlier for the annual ritual but that it was withdrawn when the authorities learned that he would be present at the event."I am flattered by such attention but I also regret that I had caused the ritual ceremony from being performed in its proper place," he said.To this, the Batu Sumpah Awareness Campaign, he said, is aiming to replicate the Oath Stone and put it up in several locations in Sabah.This in turn will spread the awareness campaigning, he said.During Sabah DAP celebration of the Sabah 51st Independence Day a mass signature campaign was also launched for the immediate publication of the RCI report of illegal immigrants in Sabah that is headed by Sabah DAP Secretary Dr Edwin Bosi."The campaign for the signature is to inquiry why the RCI report could not be made public before Malaysia Day on Sept 16," he said.The Cobbold Commission on the Formation of Malaysia took less than seven months in 1962 to publish its report from its first appointment in January 1962, he said."So, why is the RCI on illegal immigrant in Sabah taking more than two-and-a-half years from the Cabinet decision in February 2012 for its establishment but still unable to have the report made public? He asked.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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