By Ling Hui
KUCHING, April 3: A mere media announcement on April Fool’s Day (April 1) by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, calling Sarawak a “region” as per the MA63 cannot beat an immediate tabling of the Constitutional Amendment Bill in Parliament.
Sarawak Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman Chong Chieng Jen said there must be an amendment to the Federal Constitution Article 1(2) based on the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) if Muhyiddin was sincere during his two-day working visit to Sarawak, which ended yesterday (April 2).
“We, PH Sarawak, hereby call upon Muhyiddin, in order to show his sincerity, to immediately convene Parliament to table the Constitutional Amendment Bill for the restoration of statuses of Sarawak and Sabah in the Federation as envisaged in MA63,” he said during a press conference at Sarawak DAP headquarters here today.
Chong also pledged the full support of all 42 Members of Parliament (MPs) from the Democratic Action Party (DAP) throughout Malaysia in Parliament should the amendment bill be tabled immediately.
With DAP’s 42 MPs added to the current 112 MPs supporting the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government and one more Miri MP from Sarawak Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), there will be 148 supporting votes in the House for the amendment bill.
Chong, who is also Sarawak DAP chief, then urged the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) not to use this issue as bait or election propaganda for Sarawakian votes when 18 Sarawak GPS MPs refused to support the same bill tabled by the then PH government on April 9, 2019.
“When the amendment bill was put to vote in Parliament, the 18 Sarawak GPS MPs refused to support the bill, thus defeating the bill. As a result, Sarawak remains as one of the 13 States in Malaysia.
“Therefore, it is hypocritical of the GPS now, in light of the impending Sarawak State Elections, to try to resurrect this issue during Muhyiddin’s two-day visit in Sarawak,” he said. — DayakDaily
