PENAMPANG MP Darell Leiking has dismissed Prime Minister Najib Razak’s recent talk about restoring Sabah and Sarawak’s special rights as a ploy to win votes.

“The late Tan Sri Adenan Satem never made a big fuss about MA63; he said that he was going to pursue MA63 and he did it (quietly) without any announcement. 

“Najib making the pledge (to restore special rights of Sabah and Sarawak) during Umno’s general assembly, when GE14 is just around the corner, reveals to us his desperation to win the hearts of Sabahans and Sarawakians to ensure he remains in power,” Leiking said today. 

In his winding-up speech at the Umno AGM on December 9, Najib had repeated the pledge he made in Kota Kinabalu on Malaysia Day to restore the rights of Sabah and Sarawak as laid out in the MA63. 

The Federation of Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak, and Singapore signed the MA63 to form Malaysia 54 years ago. Singapore left Malaysia in 1965. 

“Najib has assured us that the rights will be returned, but we want to know when exactly this will happen. From what Warisan can see, Sarawak has given a deadline for pursuing the re-activation of MA63,” he said. 

Leiking said all Najib needed to do fulfil the pledge was to get Parliament and the BN-led Sabah Government to comply wth the recommendations in the Intergovernmental Committee report vis Article 8 of the Malaysia Agreement 1963. 

Leiking added he should do this without delay. 

Leiking said East Malaysians had sacrificed a lot to bring Malaysia into being and they would never have agreed to the partnership if they had known that they would come to be subjugated by the federal government.

“In the absence of Singapore since August 1965 and with BN administering Sabah, the state has lost its assertiveness within the Federation of Malaysia because Umno has become too strong. 

“As a result, Sabahans have lost their rights as citizens of equal state and are becoming too dependent on Umno for handouts,” he said. 

Sabah DAP secretary Chan Foong Hin said Najib should keep his word and amend the federal constitution in the next parliamentary sitting before the 14th general election. 

“We don’t want lip service; Najib should not think that his pledge will stop Sabahans from demanding their rights,” he said.

Chan said the federal government must, among others, amend the law to reflect the original spirit of the formation of Malaysia, in which Sabah and Sarawak are equal partners.

He said there was also a need to amend the law to recognise the birth of Malaysia on September 16, 1963, saying that after 54 years the constitution still did not have a definition of Malaysia Day. – December 11, 2017.