KUCHING: With or without the proposed amendment to Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution, the state’s special rights and status are already entrenched in MA63.
No amendment to the Federal Constitution can change those rights because MA63 is an international agreement, which can only be dealt with by the parties to the Agreement, including the UK, said Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) information chief Datuk Idris Buang.
“We are already an equal partner in our own right to these parties that formed Malaysia.
“Therefore, having said all this, there’s more to this proposed Article 1(2) amendment, than meets the eye’, that we Sarawakians must be concerned with,” he added.
Idris expressed agreement with a media statement by Batang Sadong MP Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri that Sarawak MPs should sight the draft amendment first.
“MPs of Members of Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) must be given the draft amendments to the Federal Constitution, as soon as possible, so that they can fairly have ample time to study it before debating the Federal Cabinet-proposed Bill,” he stressed.
Idris said this was crucial because the MPs needed to see whether such proposed amendment (s) would involve any ancillary, incidental or consequential or further amendments to the Federal Constitution.
This is taking into consideration the multifarious rights of Sarawak under the Malaysia Agreement that have been eroded and now must be restored, he explained.
Idris lamented that a single, simplistic amendment to Article 1(2) even to put the pre-76 original wordings back would serve no point at all for Sarawak and Sabah.
“There are many other equally vital parts of the Malaysia Agreement (with the IGC Recommendations included) and the also the Constitution itself that are still on the desk of the Steering Committee as well as the Technical Committee that have yet to be properly addressed.
“There is a litany of items that are still being discussed ranging from financial reviews of Special Grants, Capitation Grant, right to Stamp Duties, retention of part of taxes collected et cetera, to equitable distribution of parliamentary seats, devolution of powers as well as funding of health, education, etc,” he added.
In addition, he said there were also matters which are not readily agreeable but need consensual solution or mode to resolve them and these relate to our permanent sovereignty and ownership to our natural resources (oil and gas included), oilfields, continental shelf etc.
Idris said, “Surely such items which pertain to land, continental shelf, seas and subsoils are not negotiable as far as we are concerned.
“We must have all our eroded rights honestly packaged in and addressed along with any other proposed amendment in the spirit of MA63 and the IGC Recommendations referred thereto,” he pointed out.
Idris said simply giving the state just Article 1(2) back without the rest was just like giving the state the body of a car without the engine and other important parts.
He expressed confidence that GPS MPs would use their utmost care and wisdom in detailing out their points on the face of the Bill to ensure that state will get what it legally and morally deserves under MA63 and the Constitution.
