TWO civil society organisation leaders have said a Sarawak lawmaker was erroneous in his claim that the Federal Constitution prohibits any states in the Federation of Malaysia, including Sarawak, from leaving the federation.

Both Daniel John Jambun, president of the Borneo Plight in Malaysia Foundation and Robert Pei, president of the Sabah-Sarawak Rights Australia New Zealand, said there is nothing in the Federal Constitution to stop Sarawak or Sabah from opting out.

“The Federal Constitution does not prohibit Sarawak or Sabah’s right to exit the federation nor is it constitutional for any laws, such as the Sedition Act 1948, to prohibit this right.

“If so, this would only confirm that Malaysia was not a free and voluntary association of four countries created in 1963,” they said in response to Bukit Semuja assemblyman and Gabungan Parti Sarawak youth chief Miro Simuh’s claim last week.

Miro had then said the Federal Constitution prohibits secession and therefore “Sarawak cannot leave the federation without the agreement of the federal government”.

He also criticised the president of the pro-independence Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK), Voon Lee Shan, for his persistence in calling for Sarawak’s independence.

Jambun and Pei said what Voon did was merely to exercise “the inalienable legal right to independence under international law recognised by the United Nations’ Resolution 1514”.

“There should be no limitation on this discourse in an association claimed by federalists to be a freely formed democratic federation,” they added in a statement.

They noted that the PBK president had also assisted 12 plaintiffs file a writ in the High Court of Borneo, seeking declarations on the validity of MA63 in 2021 and right to exit for independence.

“The fact that the former British colonies of Sarawak and Sabah were incorporated by the United Kingdom and Malayan governments as new members of the Federation of Malaysia in 1963 does not extinguish this right for several reasons.

“The Federation of Malaysia was created by an international treaty. The Malaysia Agreement 1963 registered with the United Nations in 1970 and therefore is governed by international law.

“International law does not prohibit secession from a federation. It is the intrinsic right of any member in a free association to unconditionally and freely exit at any time,” they argued.

They pointed out this issue was raised in the inter-governmental committee (IGC) discussions before MA63 was signed on July 9, 1963 when both the Sarawak and Sabah sides demanded the right to exit be included in the constitution.

Jambun and Pei said Lord Lansdowne, the IGC chairman, had dissuaded the two states from doing so by stating that “any state voluntarily entering a federation had the intrinsic right to secede at will and therefore it was unnecessary to include it in the constitution”.

The presidents of the civil society groups said those opposing Sabah and Sarawak independence had also erroneously claimed that the Sedition Act 1948 was amended to prohibit “secession”.

“There is no such prohibition in the Act 1485 amendment of the sedition act in 2015 or any other acts.”

Jambun and Pei said that the failure to resolve MA63 issues on state autonomy, seat allocation, loss of control of the civil service and education, resources and revenue from oil and gas, lack of development and infrastructures and poverty, Sabah’s 40% revenue entitlement, the “Ketuanan Melayu” race and religion ideology replacing the MA63 concept of secularism, pluralism and multiculturalism, and illegal migrants have led to the widespread sentiment for independence.

They added the recent call to amend the Federal Constitution for a Malay-Muslim government and a Malay prime minister only has aroused more calls for independence. – January 10, 2024.