By Lian Cheng
KUCHING, April 4: Santubong MP Dato Sri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the proposed amendment to Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution Article is making a mockery out of every Sarawakian and Sabahan.
“We appreciate the federal government’s effort to make the amendment, but we can’t accept that we get nothing at all.
“In fact, it is making a mockery of every Sarawakian and Sabahan,” Wan Junaidi told DayakDaily today.
The first reading of the Bill took place in Parliament at about 12.05pm today.
The amendment involves removing Sarawak and Sabah from the list of Malaysian states and placing them in a different grouping.
The initial Article 1(2) reads `The States of the Federation shall be Johore, Kedah, Kelantan, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Penang, Perak, Perlis, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor and Terengganu’.
It is proposed that Sarawak and Sabah be taken out of this list and placed in another category, to read:
`The States of the Federation shall be (a) Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Perlis, Pulau Pinang, Selangor and Terengganu; and
(b) Sabah and Sarawak.”
The description attached states that the Bill proposes to replace the old amendment with the new one, where all states return to their original status as at the time Malaysia was formed in 1963.
Wan Junaidi said the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government intended to rush the Bill to fulfil their manifesto, resulting in the amendment bringing no change to the status of Sarawak and Sabah.
In fact, it even seemed that Sarawak and Sabah have been demoted.
“At the end, there is not even a change of a shirt. Previously, all the states are in the same line. Now we are demoted to the second line,” he pointed out.
He said the PH government should not rush on the Bill but, rather, should wait for the Steering Committee to study the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and other related documents to come out with comprehensive amendments.
“To amend the Federal Constitution is not a small matter. It should not be done in such a manner. Furthermore, PH does not have a two-thirds majority, it needs the support of others.
“Since that is the case, the amendments to the Federal Constitution should be done in a holistic manner and in accordance to the spirit of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and that of the Inter-Governmental Reports,” asserted Wan Junaidi.— DayakDaily
