by DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Oct 24: Amid recent police investigations over his remarks on Sabah and Sarawak’s right to seek independence from Malaysia, Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) president Voon Lee Shan warned that repeated investigations will not silence him or others who speak about the constitutional position of Sabah and Sarawak within the Federation.
In a press statement today, Voon said, “Whether people of Sabah and Sarawak want to exit from Malaysia or (not it) is their choice, but as a lawyer, I have a right to express my opinion.”
Voon maintained that the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) was “dubious” and claimed that because of this, both Sabah and Sarawak lost tens of billions of ringgit annually in oil and gas revenues to the Federal government while receiving less than one per cent in return.
“Being in Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak lost their revenues, including from oil and gas resources in tens of billions of ringgit every year to the Federal government of Malaya (Malaysia), but what had always been given back was always less than one per cent of what been taken away by Malaya (Malaysia) from them
“According to legal experts, the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) is an invalid Treaty and if invalid, this means, Malaysia could not be formed in the first place. The failure to incorporate MA63 in the federal constitution prior to recent amendment to the constitution posed a serious legal issue that Sabah and Sarawak were not part of Malaysia before MA63 ( if valid) was recognised by the federal constitution.”
Citing legal opinions, he noted that the failure or non-compliance to fulfill the 18 and 20 points raised by Sarawak and Sabah for the Malaysia Agreement until now, means that Sabah and Sarawak may wish or can think whether to stay or to exit from the Federation of Malaysia.
Despite facing repeated probes, Voon said he would continue to speak on Sabah and Sarawak’s constitutional and international rights.
“I beg to tell the relevant authorities and also to fellow Sarawakians and Sabahans that such harassments will not stop me from speaking the truth and speaking about rights of Sarawak and Sabah under international law and under the federal and state constitutions to exit from any union,” he said.
“You can kill a soul from speaking, but you cannot kill his voice from speaking because others will speak for him even if he could not more speak,” he added.
“Even if I stop talking, many will come forward to speak on the issues,” he declared. – DayakDaily
