By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Nov 25: Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) president Voon Lee Shan and Sabah Sarawak Rights Australia New Zealand (SSRANZ) president Robert Pei asserts that former Law Minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim’s candid statement constitutes a historic admission that legally validates the long-held position that both territories possess an inherent right to exit Malaysia.
The joint statement released by PBK and SSRANZ today highlighted that it is the first time a prominent Malayan legal figure has openly confirmed that there is no legal impediment preventing Sabah and Sarawak from exiting the Federation of Malaysia.
Zaid’s statement directly supports the long-standing PBK-SSRANZ position that the right of self-determination of Sabah and Sarawak was never extinguished, that Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) was never validly formed under international law, and Malaysia’s claim over the Borneo territories is legally defective and historically imposed.
“Zaid’s remarks expose decades of false claims that secession is ‘illegal’, ‘seditious’ or ‘impossible’. The fact that Malaysia was never a voluntary union, but imposed by Malaya on Sabah and Sarawak,” read the statement.
PBK and SSRANZ strongly criticised Zaid’s subsequent claim that Sabah and Sarawak are a ‘burden’ to Malaya, which to them are ‘historically loaded’ and revealing of a neo-colonial mindset.
They argued that the term echoed Rudyard Kipling’s colonial doctrine of the “White Man’s Burden”, where colonial subjects were depicted as inferior and costly dependants.
“But the historical reality is the opposite: Malaysia has been the burden on Sabah and Sarawak, not the other way around,” read the joint statement.
The statement read that the Borneo territories have supplied essential resources: oil, gas, timber, territory, strategic depth, electoral weight, and cultural legitimacy, while Malaya has extracted the resources and returned only a fraction of what is owed.
“Zaid’s remark inadvertently exposes the neo-colonial logic at the heart of the Malaysian federation: Sabah and Sarawak are expected to contribute, comply, and remain silent,” argued the statement.
PBK and SSRANZ regarded Zaid’s comment as a confession of Malayan attitudes, a confirmation of Malaya’s reliance on Borneo resources, and a validation that Sabah and Sarawak deserve, and possess the right to independence.
The statement dismissed the criticism made by Tupong assemblyman Datuk Fazzrudin Abdul Rahman, labelling it ‘predictable’, nothing that Federal-aligned leaders must defend Malaysia because their powers depend on it.
They maintained that Zaid’s statement is not seditious, not destabilising, and are fully consistent with international law, aligned with the words of the first Prime Minister, the late Tunku Abdul Rahman and Malaysia’s constitutional history.
To PBK and SSRANZ, the Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg’s claims that rejecting MA63 destroying the ‘spirit of Malaysia’ is false, citing that there was no spirit in a treaty that was never honoured or invalid from the beginning.
“To suggest otherwise is to rewrite history. What is truly dangerous is the continued denial of Borneo autonomy and real self-determination, not the honest acknowledgement that Sabah and Sarawak have an exit right.”
The statement maintained that Zaid’s, whether intentional or accidental, have achieved what the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) leaders dare not, which is to expose the Malayan neo-colonial attitudes and validating the Borneo exit right, triggering a long-overdue national conversation.
“Sabah and Sarawak now face a choice: Remain in the federation where we are considered ‘burdens’, or reclaim the sovereignty that was never lawfully surrendered.
“We stand for the independence, dignity, and self-determination of Sabah and Sarawak,” read the statement. — DayakDaily
