By Karen Bong
KUCHING, April 5: Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) Youth chief Michael Tiang viewed the Bill to amend Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution as a ‘deception and trap’ designed by the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government to drag Sabah and Sarawak further away from the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
The two-page amendment Bill, he pointed out, actually reaffirmed the position and status of Sabah and Sarawak as one of the 13 states in Malaysia, which was no different at all from the amendment done in 1976.
“Facts of history are that Sabah and Sarawak signed the Agreement with Malaya in 1963. Sarawak never dealt with Penang, Selangor, Kedah or any of the Malayan states to form Malaysia. It was never meant to be 13 states, to begin with,” he told a press conference in SUPP headquarters here today.
“And in the Bill, no matter how they put it, it still says 13 states. This actually meant that Sabah and Sarawak are now on par with another 11 Malayan states in Malaysia,” he said.
Tiang chided Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen for urging Sarawakians to accept the Bill that was tabled for first reading in Parliament yesterday.
“I think we have seriously been misled and deceived further by the PH through this Bill. This is a deception and a trap for Sabah and Sarawak to compromise with the status to be downgraded to become one of the states on par with the Malayan states,” he said.
Tiang looks forward to the “moment of truth” come Tuesday (April 9) when the Bill is tabled for the second reading, to be followed by debates and voting.
“Then we can see who is actually protecting and who is selling off Sarawak,” he said and urged all MPs from Sarawak not to support the Bill as it could inflict irreversible harm on the state.
Tiang said he supported the suggestion by Santubong MP Dato Sri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar to form a Select Committee to look into the Bill between the first and second reading as well as drawing up and tabling a more comprehensive Bill based on the final deliberations of the Steering Committee, instead of rushing the Bill. — DayakDaily
