No ‘escape clause’ for Sarawak , says MP

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KUCHING: There is no ‘escape clause’ whatsoever for Sarawak as far as the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) is concerned, says Santubong MP Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.

He pointed out that while the arrangement was supposed to be in ‘perpetual posterity’, it did not mean that secession was not possible, because the Federation of Malaysia itself ‘was a political arrangement’.

He argued that the law, whether constitutional or under the Act of Parliament, was ‘man-made’ – that it could be changed, or a new arrangement could be formulated, or a new Act could be enacted to facilitate such arrangement.

“The MA63, if interpreted widely, could accommodate such new arrangement, should Sarawakians be completely unsatisfied with federal administration over the exploitation of Sarawak’s wealth and the continuous and persistent breach of Agreement 1963 (MA63).

Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar

“Beyond that, the federal government also has, over the years since 1963, been encroaching and trespassing upon the rights already entrenched in the Federal Constitution – and having yet to fulfil some of the wishes and demands of Sarawakians as envisaged in the MA63,” he said.

In this regard, Wan Junaidi said secession ‘was possible’, provided that both sides would agree and the people would agree.

“Just like (how) Singapore did it – it’s possible. In the course of the deliberation for the preparation of the Cobbold Commission Report, it seriously considered the provision for secession of Sarawak and Sabah in the event that the federation would no longer be tenable, or the federal government had breached its promises to develop Sarawak or Sabah, but the wisdom of the time considered that the clause with respect to secession was not to be entrenched in either the Cobbold Commission Report, or the Inter-Governmental (IGC) Report.

“That’s why it was not reflected in the Act of Malaysia 1963 (UK) which formulated the Act of Malaysia 1963 (Malaya) that subsequently passed for the amendment of the Federal Constitution of Malaya to make it to become the Federal Constitution of Malaysia 1963,” said the MP.

In this respect, Wan Junaidi considered that under the present circumstance, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was right.

The prime minister had told Parliament that action would only be taken under the Sedition Act against those calling for Sarawak’s secession from Malaysia if they jeopardised public order and security.

Dr Mahathir said this was in line with the government’s policy to promote freedom of speech.

It is reported that he had said this in a written reply to Lanang MP Alice Lau of the Democratic Action Party (DAP), which was released in Parliament on Thursday.