The call for negotiations concerning the breaches of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), which now leads to the proposed amendment to the federal constitution, has trapped the governments of Sabah and Sarawak to dance to tune played by the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government.
Coming to the negotiating table is a great achievement by the federal government because the federal cabinet knows that the Federation of Malaya cannot, for its economic survival, lose Sabah and Sarawak. This is because the Federation of Malaya depends very much on the oil and gas revenues from Sabah and Sarawak for its survival and development.
The negotiation on MA63 is not a negotiation between the three remaining signatories of the MA63 but a negotiation by the government of Malaysia, represented by the federal cabinet with the governments of Sabah and Sarawak.
How can the federal cabinet be given a right to represent the Federation of Malaya in the negotiation? This should be legally and politically wrong. This is because the federal cabinet was never a signatory of the MA63.
YB Baru Bian and YB Chong Chieng Jen are seen negotiating as representing the federal government, instead of representing the government and people of Sarawak. Being Sarawakians, their actions are a conflict of interest and they may not be able to act objectively in the best interest of the people of Sarawak. By coming to the negotiation table called by the federal government indicates that the Sarawak government has unconditionally accepted the fact that the MA63 was a valid treaty before coming to the negotiating table. This stand taken by the state government is against the legal and political opinions of a large section of Sarawakians.
I had with many lawyers many times voiced our humble opinion that MA63 caused by the breaches is void or void ab initio and terms therein are not negotiable. Once there are fundamental breaches, it needs not take a legally trained person to tell MA63 should be declared as void. In such a situation, the governments of Sabah and Sarawak should pressure the federal government to come with a joint declaration to declare MA63 as void.
The putting back the status of Sabah and Sarawak to their original positions by amending the federal constitution would not be able to solve the woes faced by the peoples of Sabah and Sarawak. This is because even if the status were returned, the federal cabinet or government still can exercise much control that transgressed into the constitutional and political rights of the peoples of Sabah and Sarawak. Powers are with them and they can ignore the protections entrenched in the federal constitution.
In the federal constitution, proper funds should be allocated to Sabah and Sarawak for development but the federal government had not done so in the past since the Federation of Malaysia came into existence. Therefore the spirit of equality and equal partnership between Sabah, Sarawak and the Federation of Malaya is an illusionary vision only.
In 2017, it was said that Sarawak contributed RM110 billion in revenue to the federal coffers, but, in the first-ever budget by the PH government, Sarawak only got only RM4 billion back.
There is so much dissatisfaction these days against Federation of Malaya as a partner that the people of Sabah and Sarawak are calling to exit from the Federation of Malaysia.
Voon Lee Shan
Former Batu Lintang state assemblyman