KUALA LUMPUR: The government intends to meet the opposition halfway to expedite an amendment to the Federal Constitution to restore Sabah and Sarawak to their former status as equal partners with Peninsular Malaysia.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Liew Vui Keong said this could be done by tweaking the proposed amendment to address the grievances of opposition lawmakers.
“The Opposition wants certain aspects of the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2019 to be changed, including possibly adding the name ‘Borneo’ to describe the two states,“ Liew said at the Parliament lobby today.
He expressed confidence that meeting the opposition lawmakers halfway, the government would be able to garner the required two-thirds of the votes to pass the bill, that will be tabled for second and third reading yesterday.
Pakatan Harapan (PH) and its allies Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) and the United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko) collectively have 137 of the 222 seats in Parliament, just 11 short of the required two-thirds needed to amend the Constitution.
Apart from the name “Borneo” to describe Sabah and Sarawak, the Opposition also wants, among others, to add the line “pursuant to the Malaysia Agreement 1963”.
“We are looking into that,“ Liew said.
“I think if we do what they want, just add a few words, they will support the bill because this is what they want.”
When the government tabled the bill last Thursday, it drew protests from the Opposition, which wanted more time to study it.
The bill seeks to amend Clause 2 of Article 1 of the Constitution to restore Sabah and Sarawak to their former status as “territories”. The status was changed to “states” under an amendment in 1976.
Currently, the Federation of Malaysia is considered just one territory. If the bill is passed, the country will revert to being a federation of three territories.
