KUCHING: The right to deny entry to anyone from coming into the state is in accordance with the 18-Points Agreement signed in 1963, which stays valid until today and should be respected by everyone.
Deputy Home Minister Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said under the agreement, state leaders have the right to bar whomsoever they think would create chaos and disharmony among the people.
“We cannot run away from the 18-Points Agreement and it should be respected by everyone. It should not be questioned,” he said.
He told reporters this after presenting Prisons Department Excellent Service Award 2013 (APC 2013) to 77 prisons officers, personnel and civilian staff at the State Prisons headquarters in Jalan Puncak Borneo near here yesterday.
Wan Junaidi, a lawyer by profession, said this when asked to comment on the statement by the three Bars of Malaysia – Advocates’ Association of Sarawak (AAS), Sabah Law Association (SLA) and the Malaysian Bar – which called on the state government to reconsider the entry bans that it has imposed on some Peninsular-based opposition leaders from entering Sarawak.
He defended Chief Minister Tan Sri Datuk Amar Adenan Satem by saying that the state leaders have every right to ban anyone from entering Sarawak if it felt that they have the potential to create trouble in a peaceful and harmonious Sarawak.
“We are peace-loving people and we should not allow (entry to) elements that will disrupt the unity that we have been preserving all these while,” he said.
The three Bars of Malaysia on Thursday expressed their deep concern in relation to the state government’s move to deny opposition politicians entry into the state due to the Balingian by-election on March 29 (today).
Among the latest opposition figures barred from the state was Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Women chief and Ampang MP Zuraida Kamaruddin.