By Olivia Miwil - December 14, 2021 @ 9:37pm
KUALA LUMPUR: Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) has described the Dewan Rakyat move to approve restoration of Sabah and Sarawak as equal partners in the Malaysian Federation as being historic.
Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal said the party's members of parliament gave full support for the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2021 today for the benefit of the people.
"History is important as the formation of Malaysia is based on promises and rights that are enshrined in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
"We give our full support, not because of other reasons, but because we realise that this is a step to ensure to 'touch the conscience' of Malaysians from Pahang, Kelantan, Sabah and Sarawak," he said during a press conference at Parliament.
He said a similar Bill was rejected in April 2019 for failing to garner the two-thirds majority required to amend the Federal Constitution.
The Semporna member of parliament said that Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution is the core to the formation of Malaysia, as, without it, there would not be any consensus among the then Malaya, North Borneo and Singapore.
Singapore's presence in the Federal Constitution was deleted on Aug 9, 1965, when it separated from the Malaysian Federation.
However, in 1976, the constitution was amended to merely list all 13 states of the federation in alphabetical order within a single category which in turn "demoted" Sabah and Sarawak equal to other states.
"We have also raised in the parliament that despite being political parties, we did not politicise the Constitution amendment but instead (worked to) strengthen to unite the people," he said.
Warisan vice-president Datuk Darell Leiking said Minister in The Prime Minister's Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar Darell used Malaysia Act [Act 26 of 1963] as a reference for the amendment to the Constitution.
Apart from Article 1 of the Federal Constitution, the Bill also sought amendments on Article 160(2) of the constitution by adding the definition of Malaysia Day to replace the word "Federation" in accordance with the MA63.
Article 161A of the constitution will also be amended by replacing paragraph (a) of Clause 6 with "in relation to Sarawak, a person who is a citizen and belongs to one of the races specified by the state law as indigenous to the state" and to remove Clause 7.
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