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KOTA KINABALU – Sabah DAP is optimistic the constitutional amendments to restore Sabah and Sarawak status as equals in the federation of Malaysia will be passed without a hitch when the bill is tabled in Parliament on October 26.
State chapter secretary Chan Foong Hin, who is also the Kota Kinabalu MP, said there is no reason for the opposition to oppose the amendments as briefed by Law Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.
“We are also accepting the proposal done by the current government. I think all of the MPs are accepting it. I don't see anybody opposing it for this round.
“This constitutional amendment will be passed in Parliament. I am very optimistic. This is a bipartisan effort and I think no one will oppose it as it is aligned to the MoU signed by the opposition with the government.
“Besides, there has been a process of engagement with all the MPs on the matter and there should be no reason for anyone to reject it,” he said during a press conference here today.
Chan recalled that similar efforts to amend the constitution were made by the Pakatan Harapan government, but opposed by Gabungan Parti Sarawak MPs in 2019.
The amendment to Article 1 (2) of the federal constitution had failed after it did not capture a two-thirds majority with opposition by MPs from GPS, PAS, and Umno.
The proposed amendments were for Article 1 (2) and 160 (2) of the federal constitution, touching on the definition of the Federation and the inclusion of Malaysia Agreement 1963 in the constitution.
Chan noted only Article 1 (2) of the constitution was tabled in Parliament during the PH era and the government at the time did not go into other provisions, intending to proceed slowly at the time.
Details of the constitutional amendment briefing sighted by The Vibes include the proposed amendments below.
Article 1 (2) (proposed amendment) will be read as:
The States of the Federation shall be:
(a) The States of Malaya, namely Johore, Kedah, Kelantan, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Penang, Perak, Perlis, Selangor and Terengganu; and,
(b) The Borneo states, namely Sabah and Sarawak
The amendment also included a new provision which recognises Malaysia Day:
(2) In this Constitution, unless the context otherwise requires, the following expressions have the meanings hereby respectively assigned to them, that is to say:
“Malaysia Day” means the sixteenth day of September, nineteen hundred and sixty-three.”
The original provisions of the same article read (which was amended in 1976):
The States of the Federation shall be:
2) The States of the Federation shall be Johore, Kedah, Kelantan, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Penang, Perak, Perlis, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor and Terengganu.
For Article 160 (2), the proposed amendment will read:
“The Federation” means the Federation that was first established under the Federation of Malaya Agreement 1957 and further pursuant to an Agreement concluded on the 9th day of July, 1963 between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Federation of Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore, the Federation is called Malaysia with Colonies of North Borneo and Sarawak and the State of Singapore federated with the existing States of the Federation of Malaya as the States of Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore in accordance with the constitutional instruments annexed thereto but under and by virtue of the Agreement relating to the separation of Singapore from Malaysia as an independent and sovereign State dated 7th August 1965, Singapore has ceased to be a State of Malaysia.
Additionally, Sarawak also seeks amendments to the definition of indigenous people.
Under Article 161A (6), “native” currently means “in relation to Sarawak, a person who is a citizen and either belongs to one of the races specified in Clause (7) as indigenous to the State or is of mixed blood deriving exclusively from those races”.
The proposed amendment would read “in relation to Sarawak, a person who is a citizen and belongs to one of the races specified by the State law as indigenous to the State”.
In addition to this, Clause (7) will now be deleted. – The Vibes, October 20, 2021
