THE special cabinet committee on the Malaysia Agreement 1963 will come out with a report of recommendations after six months from its establishment, said de facto law minister Liew Vui Keong.

The list was approved today after a discussion at this morning’s cabinet meeting this morning, Liew told a law forum in Universiti Malaya.

There are three levels in the special cabinet committee, namely the steering committee, technical committee and work committee.

“The work committee will be selected by the technical committee, and I can assure you that more representatives from Sabah and Sarawak will be included,” he said.

“I believe the members of these committees will execute this important task in the interest of the rakyat, especially Sabahans and Sarawakians who have put their trust in us to make this change. This committee will not only recommend the proper implementation of the Malaysia Agreement 1963, but they will also monitor the implementation, which will be carried out by relevant parties and stakeholders.”

Liew said he had travelled to Sarawak on Monday and made “a very important announcement” that Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution will be amended to restore the status of Sabah and Sarawak as per Article 4 of the Malaysia Agreement 1963.

“This is consistent with the announcement made by our prime minister on 16 September 2018 that Sabah and Sarawak shall enjoy equal status with Peninsular Malaysia.

“It is very important for us to work together and support this amendment, even though at this moment the government does not have a 2/3 majority in Parliament. I believe we must have a strong political will and put aside political differences to make this change for our future generation,” he said.

The steering committee will be chaired by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad with the Chief Ministers of Sarawak and Sabah, Attorney-General Tommy Thomas and the Attorney-Generals of the two Borneo territories included as members. There are a dozen Sabahans and Sarawakians on the committee.

Sarawak has disputed Pakatan Harapan’s proposed special cabinet committee to revisit the Malaysia Agreement 1963.

Chief Minister Abang Johari said he is of the view that the committee should be modelled along the lines of the Inter-Governmental Committee, formed in 1961, to look into the formation of Malaysia.

“It should not be a cabinet committee,” Abang Johari told reporters today.

The IGC, disbanded in 1963, was made up of representatives of the governments of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Brunei, the Federation of Malaya, North Borneo (now renamed Sabah), Sarawak and Singapore. – October 10, 2018.