PETALING JAYA: People should not use the word "state" when referring to Sabah, says deputy chief minister Jeffrey Kitingan.
Kitingan claimed that Putrajaya already recognised Sabah as a region, according to The Borneo Post.
“It should be Sabah only … the Sabah government, Sabah region. Even Sarawak uses Sarawak only. Just use ‘Sabah’, there’s no need to add ‘state’," Kitingan was quoted as saying after reporters asked if the term "state" still applied to Sabah.
Kitingan, who is the Keningau MP and Tambunan assemblyman, urged the media to adopt this immediately, saying he would raise the matter to the Sabah Cabinet so that the Sabah government would make an official announcement.
The governments of Sabah and Sarawak had long protested against a change in the Federal Constitution by which Sabah and Sarawak were listed as being among the 13 states forming the federation.
They had demanded that their states be listed separately, as at the time of the formation of Malaysia.
In December 2021, the Dewan Rakyat passed several constitutional amendments to elevate Sabah and Sarawak’s status in the federation.
The following month, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi claimed at the party’s general assembly that Sabah and Sarawak had been accorded the status of regions and were no longer regarded as states within Malaysia.
Sarawak premier Abang Johari Openg pointed out that the change in status had yet to be gazetted, and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim later said the matter needed to be referred to the Conference of Rulers first.
