Sarawak must have power to grant citizenship, says rep

MIRI – The Sarawak government should acquire the authority to grant citizenship status, Dudong assemblyman Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing said today.

This must be done to enable the state to resolve decades of woes afflicting thousands of stateless Sarawakians, he said.

Speaking in the state assembly today, Tiong stressed on the importance of resolving problems of statelessness faced by folk in Sarawak.

“In line with the recent amendment to the status of Sarawak in the federal constitution, Sarawak should have the power to decide on citizenship status for those who are still stateless,” he said.

“Sarawak should also have autonomy to decide on education in the state.

“Other important matters like health and security should be under the state too,” he said.

In December, the Dewan Rakyat had successfully passed constitutional amendments giving greater recognition to the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).

The constitutional amendments are for the restoration of the original status of Sabah and Sarawak as equal partners in the Federation of Malaysia, defining the terms of the federation to include MA63.

Sabah and Sarawak had been downgraded to mere states in the constitutional amendment made in 1976, which many East Malaysian MPs claim was a violation of the federal constitution as stated in article 161E.

The amendments saw changes to Article 1(2) of the federal constitution, listing Sabah and Sarawak as states of the Malaysian federation separate from peninsular states.

Tiong is also Bintulu MP and president of Progressive Democratic Party (PDP).

PDP is a component party of the ruling Gabungan Parti Sarawak. Others component parties include Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu, Sarawak United People’s Party and Parti Rakyat Sarawak. – The Vibes, February 15, 2022