Sharifah Hasidah said this was why the state government had proposed a comprehensive amendment to the Federal Constitution with an aim of restoring the status of Sarawak. – File photo
KUCHING (Aug 12): An amendment to the Federal Constitution is required for making the ‘wilayah’ (region) status official for Sarawak, said Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department (Law, State-Federal Relations and Project Monitoring) Datuk Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali.
She said the term ‘wilayah’ was first mentioned by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin when the then Prime Minister visited Sarawak on April 1.
According to her, Muhyiddin mentioning it was merely to recognise Sarawak and Sabah as entities of their own as they came together with other entities to form Malaysia.
“I was present at the time when he (Muhyiddin) said that Sabah and Sarawak were ‘wilayah’. What he meant, I interpret it as, Sabah and Sarawak are an entity of their own because we were partners during the formation of this country, Malaysia.
“But for us to legally define Sabah and Sarawak as ‘wilayah’, we need to look into and amend the Federal Constitution in detail,” she told a question-and-answer session held in conjunction with a virtual seminar entitled ‘Navigating the Impacts of The Malaysia Agreement 1963 on National Integrity’ hosted by the Sarawak Unity Foundation (YPS) on Facebook today.
Sharifah Hasidah said this was why the state government had proposed a comprehensive amendment to the Federal Constitution with an aim of restoring the status of Sarawak.
She said among the proposed amendments involved Article 1(2) and Article 160 of the Federal Constitution.
“These two articles involve the definition of the states and the definition of The Federation, which shall be pursuant to the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
“In our discussions with the Allies Working Committee, it is agreed that the term ‘wilayah’ needs to be defined clearly and consonant with our Federal Constitution,” she added.
The Allies Working Committee was one of the three working committees established under the Special Council on MA63 on Dec 2 last year, to monitor the implementation on MA63.