KOTA KINABALU: The passing of the motion on Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) by the Sarawak government showed it is high time for Sabah to do the same.
In endorsing this, Sabah MCA liaison deputy chief Datuk Francis Goh said the Sabah government must emulate the move of the neighbouring state and form a special task force to negotiate with Putrajaya to resolve outstanding issues related to MA63.
“It is known that the Sabah government had also formed a special committee to look into the special rights of the state,” he said.
This committee is chaired by Special Tasks Minister Datuk Seri Teo Chee Kang and the last known effort is that a report had been submitted to the state cabinet on their study on the MA63.
Moreover, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak during his speech on the last Merdeka Day had openly said that the Federal Government would discuss the matter in a ‘family’ manner so as to resolve some of the plaguing issues on MA63 with the Sabah and Sarawak State Governments before the 14th general election.
“It is therefore high time for the Sabah government to show its sincerity in re-claiming the special rights of the state and do not allow the opposition to manipulate the issue to pinch for votes in the upcoming election,” he said in a statement yesterday.
On Thursday, the Sarawak government had passed the motion to resolve all outstanding issues on the MA63 and a mandate was given to form a high-level special task force to negotiate with Putrajaya to resolve the issues.
The mandate also includes compelling the federal government to comply, uphold the constitutional safeguards and special rights accorded to Sarawak, in accordance with the terms, intent and spirit of the MA63.
The motion was tabled by Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Douglas Uggah Embas where he also sought the mandate to take all necessary measures under Article VIII of the agreement to ensure the complete implementation of the Inter-governmental report as intended to safeguard the special interest of Sarawak.
Article VIII of the MA63 provided that implementation is to be through executive, legislative and other actions by the federal and state governments of Sabah and Sarawak.
There had been various calls in the Sabah legislative assembly to review the MA63 but was often shot down by the ruling government who dismissed such calls.
According to Goh, the Sabah State Government should show its sincerity to put the interest of the people among all.
The Sarawak’s move to table the motion recently has reignited the same sentiment among Sabah political observers and earlier this week Parti Warisan Sabah vice president cum Likas assemblyman Junz Wong had filed the motion to the State Assembly.
Goh said the report must be tabled so a motion can be mooted by Barisan National Sabah and to be passed in the next State Legislative Assembly sitting in order for Sabah to form its own team to negotiate the state rights with Putrajaya.