Sharifah Hasidah fields questions from reporters.
KUCHING: The newly-formed Sarawak Consultative Committee on Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) will hold its first meeting soon.
Assistant Minister of Law, State-Federal Relations and Project Monitoring Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali said they are waiting for the committee chairman, who is State Legislative Assembly (DUN) Speaker Datuk Amar Mohd Asfia Awang Nassar, to call for the meeting.
She explained that the composition of the committee was already confirmed following the passing of a motion with regards to its formation at the State Legislative Assembly on Nov 6.
“The committee was already formed the moment the motion was passed. We now wait for the Speaker as the chairman to call for proper meeting,” she told reporters at the DUN complex after the sitting ended yesterday.
Apart from Mohd Asfia and Sharifah Hasidah, the others in the committee are Minister of International Trade and E-Commerce and Second Finance Minister Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh; Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah; Assistant Minister of Youth and Sports Datuk Snowdan Lawan; Dato Idris Buang (PBB-Muara Tuang); Dato Sebastian Ting (SUPP-Piasau); Dato Henry Harry Jinep (PDP-Tasik Biru); See Chee How (PKR-Batu Lintang) and Irene Chang (DAP-Bukit Assek).
All the assemblypersons from both government and opposition sides had on Nov 6 unanimously voted in favour of establishing a Consultative Committee to determine and agree upon the representations for submission to the Sarawak representatives of the MA63 Steering Committee.
The setting-up of the Consultative Committee to comprise members from all political parties represented in the august House was moved by Abdul Karim in his ministerial motion under Standing Order 23(1)(a) read together with Standing Order 89 and Article 24(1) of the State Constitution.
The Consultative Committee was proposed as a response to the formation of the MA63 Steering Committee on Sept 5 chaired by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, which was described as being lopsided because it had only three representations from Sarawak.