KUCHING: Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDSB) is cautioning Sarawakians not to be overly excited by the promise to return equal status to Sarawak and Sabah made by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Its president Cobbold John said what Dr Mahathir had said in Kota Kinabalu on Sunday during the Malaysia Day celebration was merely a repeat of what his predecessor Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had often said each time he visited the two states.
Therefore, he said there is no need for Sarawakians to expect too much from Dr Mahathir’s assurance as they may ultimately be disappointed.
“That is why I urge all of us not to be too optimistic with what the prime minister had told us but, at the same time, we must continue to remind the federal government to return our rights as equal partners to Malaya.
“When we formed Malaysia in 1963, we were on the same level with Malaya and Sabah when our forefathers signed the Malaysia Agreement, but because the federal government under Najib’s father, Tun Razak Hussein, amended Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution in 1976, the status of Sarawak and Sabah was downgraded to be among the states in Malaysia.
“What we, Sarawakians as well as Sabahans, want is for the federal government to revert Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution to its original position,” he asserted.
Cobbold said this can be done by tabling an amendment to the Federal Constitution in the coming sitting of the Dewan Rakyat.
He said with the support of all MPs, he is confident that the required two-third majority will be met to amend the constitution.