Hamid Ismail
KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah state government is urged to retain the term “state” with regards to Sabah, once amendments are made on Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution.
Lawyer Hamid Ismail advised the state government to cancel its intention to drop the term “state,” as doing so would be a clear and express violation of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
“It was agreed in MA63 that North Borneo shall be a state known as Sabah. This is made clear in Articles I, III, V and VII(2) of MA63, as well as the Malaysia Bill, which is Annex A in MA63.
“It was agreed in MA63 that Sabah is a state in Malaysia. The term ‘state’ accordingly cannot be taken away. No one can deny that Sabah is one of the parties that formed Malaysia,” he said in a press statement.
Hamid was referring to a report yesterday that Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Mohd Shafie Apdal had referred to autonomous rights such as immigration and authority to collect land revenue. These rights, said Hamid, were already provided in the Federal Constitution.
“If what the State government wants is to ensure that promises in MA63 are fulfilled, then demand for the full and effective enforcement of the rights of Sabah which are already stated in the Federal Constitution.
“I appreciate the State government’s effort to make Sabah a great state. So let’s comply with MA63 as it is,” he said.
Shafie on Sunday said the Sabah government will consider dropping the term ‘state’ if the amendment to Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution receives the support of elected representatives in Parliament.
He said the recognition of the amendment would be done when the time comes to ensure the matters sealed in the Malaysian Agreement 1963 could be realised as best as possible for the benefit of the people of Sabah.