KUCHING: Amendments to the Federal Constitution need to be done to recognise the region status of Sabah and Sarawak, said Universiti Putra Malaysia political science professor Datuk Dr Jayum Jawan.
He said this was because the announcement of the change of status from state to region without strong legal support does not carry significant meaning.
“What or how Sabah and Sarawak will be called, the Federal Constitution (for now) still sees, places and treats the two ‘regions’ as two of the 13 states in the Federation,” he told Bernama when contacted Saturday.
He was commenting on Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s statement yesterday that Sabah and Sarawak had been accorded the status of region and were no longer regarded as states within Malaysia.
In his policy speech at the 2022 Umno general assembly, Ahmad Zahid said the relocation of the Indonesian capital to East Kalimantan made the Sabah and Sarawak regions more strategic, to be developed as new growth areas.
Commenting further, Jayum said that all the rights and privileges for Sabah and Sarawak are also already available in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) and there are also those that have been agreed in the Federal Constitution.
“Everything has been outlined including the power of immigration. That’s why Sarawak can deny the entry of those who are found to be a threat to security and harmony.
“In my opinion, what needs to be done now is for the power to be refined to adapt it to the passage of time because the previous targets (1960s) have changed,” he said.
In addition, he said, special grants to Sabah and Sarawak are also clear under Article 112D of the Federal Constitution.
