Liew to meet S’wak CM, MPs
Published on: Sunday, April 21, 2019
By: Winnie Kasmir
SANDAKAN: De facto Law Minister Datuk Liew Vui Keong will meet Sarawak Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg to revert the status of Sabah and Sarawak as equal partners with Malaya as envisaged in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) in Parliament recently.
Speaking to reporters here, Liew said the meeting is to get them to better understand the proposal to Amend Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution aiming to restore Sabah and Sarawak’s status as equal partners in the Federation of Malaysia.
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“I will meet with Abang Johari to explain further on the proposed amendments to the Federal Constitution,” he said.
Liew would also meet the Members of Parliament under the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) to strengthen the ties between Putrajaya and Sarawak. The GPS representatives were among 20 from both states who abstained from voting that day.
“Last April 9, we failed to get the Bill to amend this Article 1(2) passed in Parliament as most who not voting were MPs of Gabungan Parti Sarawak. The sole Sabah MP who abstained was Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin.
“I hope, after the meeting, Sarawak would stand closely with us (Sabah) in having similar agenda, thus discussing this matter during its own state assembly sitting soon,” he said.
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Liew also hoped that the Parliament Committee which was agreed to be established can be expedited.
“The establishment of the Parliament Committee aims to see the implementation of MA63. However, the total involvement of MPs in the Parliament Committee is yet to be confirmed and it is up to the Speaker,” he added.
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He said the committee would involve selected MPs, to complement the Cabinet Special Committee on the same issue (MA63).
“We (the federal government) realise that a committee involving MPs is necessary to ensure the successful implementation of MA63.
“The PSC chairman will then be invited to become a permanent member of the Cabinet Special Committee to contribute towards the implementation of MA63,” he said.
Liew also expressed his gratitude to the Sabah State Legislative Assembly when the assembly unanimously approved an extraordinary motion to support the amendment of Article 1 (2) of the Federal Constitution on Thursday.
He hoped the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly would follow the move in its next session.
“I’m confident that the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly will take the similar step (to support the amendment).
Meanwhile, Liew also called for stern take action to be against the uploaders of the video recordings of former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s graft trial.
He said they were not allowed to be shared on social media without the consent of the judge.
“Najib’s defence counsel had obtained permission to get the footage of the proceedings from the court.
“The footage and recording can be obtained only with Court permission, but shall not be disseminated or shown to the public,” he said.
However, Liew believed the footage was edited which did not show the real situation and this caused a wrong perception to viewers.
“I was informed that the Court had provided five recording tapes to the defence team based on the proceeding days.
“But the circulated footage was only a few minutes. I believe the footage has been edited,” he said.
The two minute and 12 seconds closed circuit television (CCTV) footage entitled ‘Hari kelima perbicaraan Datuk Seri Najib’ showed Najib’s defence lawyer, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, questioning witnesses in the case.
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