Kota Kinabalu: Yang Dipertua Negeri Sabah Tun Juhar Mahiruddin has consented to the appointment of Judicial Commissioners in Sabah to be based on an administrative mechanism, said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
The Sabah Government, he said, also concurred with its Sarawak counterparts that the consent of the Yang Dipertua Negeri (TYT) must be obtained first before the proposed appointment is submitted to the Judicial Appointments Commission.
“The TYT (Juhar) also agreed that another representative from Sabah and Sarawak be appointed to the Judicial Appointments Commission,” he said in a statement.
Hajiji said he had informed the matter to the Special Council on the 1963 Malaysia Agreement (MA63) meeting chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob via video conferencing Thursday.
He also raised the issue of the need for security outposts at the Malaysia-Indonesia border to be beefed up.
Hajiji said during his working visit to the three security outposts at the border, namely Burst-Point, Wallace Bay and Sungai Melayu in Sebatik, he found there was a need for facilities there to be upgraded.
The Chief Minister said the state government will continue to pursue the 40 per cent special grant for Sabah under Article 112D of the Federal Constitution.
On the request for increase in parliamentary seats for Sabah and Sarawak in line with the spirit of the Malaysia formation, Hajiji said the Prime Minister said the proposal will be brought to the Federal Cabinet for discussion.
Earlier, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said he has given his commitment to issues raised in Sabah and Sarawak, including the total number of representatives of the two states in Parliament.
He said this was among the issues raised in a meeting of the Special Council on the 1963 Malaysia Agreement (MKMA63), which he chaired Thursday.
According to his Facebook post, the meeting was also attended by Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg, Hajiji, Cabinet ministers as well as leaders of Sabah and Sarawak.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah and Sarawak Affairs) Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili who was also present in the meeting was reported as saying that the meeting endorsed the move of restoring 35 per cent of the 222 Parliamentary seats for Sabah and Sarawak.
The endorsement would enable Sabah and Sarawak to have 78 of the 222 seats.
Besides, Ismail Sabri said, other matters raised in the meeting included the economy and health in the two Borneo states.
In this regard, the Prime Minister also gave the commitment of the government to develop the two states in Budget 2023 which will be tabled on Oct 7.
“Insya Allah, all issues raised in the Borneo states will receive attention in line with the spirit of Keluarga Malaysia,” he said.
