Lina Soo
KUALA LUMPUR: State Reform Party Sarawak (STAR) president Lina Soo has called upon Pakatan Harapan (PH) politicians to stop the drama over the Bill to amend Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution.
Soo claimed that the havoc created between all sides – those supporting and those opposing the Bill – bears the hallmarks of a “manipulator” behind the scene.
“Give a ‘half-baked’ amendment and divide into two opposing camps, and let the bickering destabilise and weaken the people.
“In the distraction, the manipulator will get off scot free with the need to correct the imbalanced relationship among the three signatories of Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63),” she said in a press statement today.
According to Soo, to deny Sarawak its Borneo State status and thus of its implied Statehood, and then to relegate its status to a territory at par with the state of Perlis is rubbing salt into wound.
“In English language, State means Nation, a defined boundary with a permanent population and its own government and laws,” she explained.
Soo claimed that the British chose their words carefully when they changed the name of its colonies from British Borneo Territories to Borneo States of Sabah and Sarawak when drafting the MA63.
“The meaning of Borneo States is different from the states of Malaya which means ‘negeri’ that is a small part of a bigger entity; whereas the Borneo States of Sabah and Sarawak are self-governing entities with a history, laws, political and social systems,” she said.
Soo provided additional proof that the Borneo States mean ‘Negara-negara Borneo’ and not ‘Negeri-negeri Borneo’; and is distinct from the ‘Negeri-negeri Tanah Melayu’.
In referring to the Malaysia Agreement, Annex D of the Constitution of Singapore, Soo pointed out that Article 1 states that there shall be a Yang di-Pertuan Negara of the State.
“Similarly in Annex B of the Constitution of Sabah, Article 1 stipulated that the Head of State for Sabah shall be called the Yang di-Pertua Negara.
“It was only after a change of regime much later, that Sabah would change the name of its Head of State to Yang di-Pertua Negeri.”
Soo said that the ‘killer’ is in the explanatory statement which affirmed that: “It satisfies the hopes and aspirations of the states of Sabah and Sarawak and all the people of Sabah and Sarawak”.
With this in mind, Soo asked if indeed the hopes and aspirations of Sarawakians were ascertained in drafting up the amendment Bill?
“Was there any debate in the State Legislative Assembly (DUN), or was there any mechanism to get the approval of the people through a referendum or an Inquiry allowed in State List (10) of the Inter-Governmental Report? If not, what is the basis for the claim?
“In fact, in voting for this Bill, the federal government would be locking in Sabah and Sarawak in perpetuity; for the Statement continues to evoke the principles and practice of federalism which is not spelt out, except that it appears to be congruent with the Federation of Malaya ideology.”
Soo said if PH is sincere, Sarawak and Sabah rights must be spelt out clearly: to include veto powers, a definition of equity and equality between the three partners, and to include the right to self-determination through a referendum, which must be part of the Explanatory Statement to ensure natural justice prevails.
“Without the safeguards and assurances defined in the explanatory statement, this Bill is a manipulative and repugnant act which is like giving a blank cheque to PH to write, or akin to locking ourselves in a prison and throwing the keys away.”
Therefore, Soo called upon the Sarawak government to ‘kill’ the Bill, and then to bring the amendment to DUN for a debate and to seek the concurrence of the people.
“The amendment must be rock-solid with no room for errors, with the full consensus of the people and all stakeholders to the satisfaction of all parties.
“We have lived with the wrongful amendment for the past 43 years, so why cant we wait for one more year to do the needful, so that Sarawak will not repeat its past mistakes,” said Soo.
Soo also urged Sarawak and Sabah MPs not to “vote away our rights and sovereignty, our childrens’ inheritance and those of future generations”.