KUCHING: Sarawak can claim any rights stated in the Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) Report 1962 even though it is not stated in the Malaysia Constitution said Fazzruddin Abdul Rahman (GPS-Tupong).
He said such was was enshrined in Article 8 of Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), adding, “the MA63 that we are fighting for clearly stated that we have avenues to ensure that we can fight for what we want”.
He said this when debating in support of the Constitution of the State of Sarawak (Amendment) Bill, 2022 during the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting today.
Adding on, he stated that the State government had gone to great lengths to find facts, information and documents originating from Sarawak before the establishment of Malaysia.
“All the information and references that we obtained (after reviewing it at the British National Archive) are used in our consultations at various levels of the MA63.
“Despite our efforts being ridiculed by the opposition, the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government remained focused on fighting for Sarawak’s rights in line with the law. And it is proven that our efforts are paid off,” he said.
Meanwhile, Fazzrudin said that the constitutional amendment to Article 1(2) and Article 160 of the Federal Constitution which was passed recently shows Sarawak has been fighting to ensure that its rights are protected.
Despite the amendment, he pointed out that in Paragraph 34 of the IGC report, it was stated that it is mandatory for Sarawak and Sabah to have representatives in the Inland Revenue Board (IRB), however, to date there are no representatives from Sabah and Sarawak.
“It is time for us to have a representative in the IRB so that we know how much the country’s income is and only then can we work out a formula for the distribution of that income based on the spirit of the formation of Malaysia,” he said.
He further noted that back in 2019, the former Minister of Finance in 2019 in his Budget 2020 speech announced that he will give Sarawak a Grant of RM32 million.
“The question now is, what formula did he use? Does the division take into account Sarawak as one of the 3 ‘partners’ or one of the 13 states? Is it fair that Sarawak is put on par with Melaka and Penang?” he questioned.
Adding on he stated that in line with the constitutional amendment, there should be a difference between the Chief Minister of Melaka and Penang and the Chief Minister of Sarawak.
“Hence, it is fitting that we begin (the differentiation) with the title of the post itself. That is the first step that we are discussing currently,” he explained.
The Tupong Assemblyman further emphasised that regardless of the meaning and interpretation of ‘Premier’ from different sources, what is more important is the spirit behind the introduction of this new title.
“That is to signify the difference of the three partners forming Malaysia as stated in our Federal Constitution,” he stressed.
