PRIME Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad tonight gave his promise that the federal government will continue to work towards returning Sabah and Sarawak as equal partners in the federation, which includes resolve all outstanding disputes the two Borneo states have raised in the special cabinet committee on the implementation of the Malaysia 1963 (MA63) Agreement.

The mandate of the committee was to resolve all the issues that had caused friction between the Borneo states and the federal government ended in August.

However, Sarawak maintained there were still dozens of issues left unresolved, giving the federal government until the end of October to work them out.

Speaking at the gathering to mark Malaysia Day in Kuching tonight, Dr Mahathir said work to restore equal status would continue, even though the first attempt to amend the federal constitution to this end failed to achieve the two-thirds support from federal lawmakers.

The constitution was amended in 1976, stripping Sabah and Sarawak of equal status as founding states of the federation of Malaysia, reducing them to ordinary states.

Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg said all parties in the ongoing talks “are confident and looking forward to solutions that will see no losers, and more importantly, no derogation of constitutional rights, special safeguards and status accorded to the states of Sabah and Sarawak as agreed by the nation’s founding fathers and embedded 56 years ago in the federal constitution”.

“The members of my administration and I are fully confident that the disputes will be resolved and will strengthen the understanding among the peoples in the Peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak,” he said.

Meanwhile, smoke forced the organisers of the Malaysia Day event to hold the ceremony indoors at the Unity Stadium in Petrajaya.

The air quality in Kuching yesterday rose to as high 245 on the air pollutant index (API), putting it in the very unhealthy category.The stadium was nonetheless packed with many more milling outside following the ceremonies on large TV screens. – September 16, 2019.