How could an assemblyman be so wrong on a subject so close to the hearts of the people of Sarawak despite being a member of the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) where he has the Sarawak Hansard and Sarawak’s constitutional documents at his disposal?
– Lina Soo
KUCHING: Sarawak People’s Aspiration Party (Aspirasi) president Lina Soo has lambasted Pelawan assemblyman David Wong of the Democratic Action Party (DAP) for saying that Sarawak could not seek separation from the federation because of the Sarawak 18-point agreement which forbade secession.
Soo pointed out that Wong’s belief was false and fallacious from the start as the 18-point agreement did not exist at all.
“As a two-term elected assemblyman for the Pelawan constituency, Wong’s obvious lack of knowledge about the formation of the Federation of Malaysia is inexcusable.
“How could an assemblyman be so wrong on a subject so close to the hearts of the people of Sarawak despite being a member of the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) where he has the Sarawak Hansard and Sarawak’s constitutional documents at his disposal?” she questioned.
Soo, who has published two books on Sarawak’s political and constitutional history, added that Wong who was trained in law, obviously did not do his homework or research while functioning as a Sarawak elected assemblyman for 10 years.
Her publications, namely ‘Sarawak the Real Deal: How a Kingdom Was Betrayed In An Intrigue of Trickery, Coercion and Subterfuge’ and ‘Sarawak Chronicle: Letters, Laws and Agreements’ are based on Sarawak’s constitutional documents, historical records and British colonial documents sourced from the British Archives.
Soo said the Inter-Governmental Committee Report and the Malaysia Agreement (MA63) upon which Sarawak federated with the Federation of Malaya to form Malaysia were silent on succession.
“This is because Lord Lansdowne, the chairman of the Inter-Governmental Committee Report which is the precursor to MA63 and lays down the safeguards and assurances for Sarawak to merge with the Federation, had rejected any ‘no-secession’ clause on the ground that any State (meaning Nation) voluntarily entering a federation had an intrinsic right to secede at will, and that it was therefore unnecessary to include it in the Constitution.
“On Wong’s statement that the federal government will not allow Sarawak to become independent, I would like to refer to a dinner that took place in New York on August 29, 2018.
“The then Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had affirmed that MA63 did not prohibit Sarawak and Sabah from seeking independence although he concluded that they only wanted autonomy and not independence,” said Soo.
She pointed out that Singapore had already set the precedent in separating from the federation on August 9, 1965.
“Why should any Sarawak politician be so adamant that Sarawak can never leave? Does that mean if DAP forms part of the government at both the federal and state levels, Sarawak can never hope to aspire for independence?
“The only reason Sarawak cannot leave is because the people of Sarawak wish to remain in the federation out of their free will. Sarawak’s right to self-determination is enshrined in UN Charter Article 1.2 and UN International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights Article 1.1 where all the peoples have the right of self-determination to freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development,” she said.
Soo also demanded that Wong explain his argument on why Sarawak could not have a referendum because there was no referendum law.
“This is a baseless statement and thoughtless assertion without any merit at all. Norway did not have existing referendum law when it held an independence referendum to dissolve the union with Sweden on August 13, 1905. Singapore also had no referendum law but a referendum was held in 1962 to decide on its position within the Federation of Malaysia after merger. Indonesia has no referendum law, but Timor Leste was granted an independence referendum on August 30, 1999 and became a new country.
“Is Wong making his statements on independence and secession based on facts and established legal doctrines or are they solely based upon his personal beliefs as a member of a Malayan political party?
“It is incredulous that any state elected leader can ask Sarawakians to improve their knowledge on Sarawak rights when he himself is sorely lacking in knowledge on Sarawak constitutional matters and plucks fairy tales like the 18-point agreement out of thin air to mislead Sarawakians,” she said.
