THE chief whip in Parliament of Sarawak’s ruling political pact has pledged to support Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s move to amend the federal constitution to accord equal status to Sabah and Sarawak as per terms embodied in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).

Fadillah Yusof, the former works minister, said Dr Mahathir and his Pakatan Harapan government can count on the support of the 19 Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) lawmakers to amend provisions in the constitution, such as the controversial 1976 amendment to Article 1(2).

Article 1 (2) was amended to downgrade the status of Sarawak and Sabah from being territories or regions within Malaysia to mere states of equal status as those in Malaya.

Restoration of the status is one of the key demands of Sabah and Sarawak in their push for full compliance of the MA63 by Putrajaya.

Fadillah said it was not fair of Dr Mahathir to assume that the opposition, especially in Sarawak, would not support him on matters of paramount interest to the state.

The prime minister, prior to departing Kota Kinabalu yesterday after attending ceremonies marking Malaysia Day, said while Putrajaya vowed to restore the rights of the Borneo territories, the process would not be easy as the PH government does not have full control or two-thirds majority in Parliament at present.

Fadillah, in reply to queries from The Malaysian Insight, said with GPS’ 19 lawmakers and the 10 from Sabah opposition Gabungan Bersatu Sabah (GBS) to add to PH’s 125, Dr Mahathir would have a total of 154 votes – out of a total of 222 – to push through any amendment.

“The 154 votes surpass the required two-thirds of 148,” he said.

There is also a possibility that MPs from Umno, MCA, MIC or PAS would support the amendments as “they had shown before the general election that they supported any parliamentary moves to restore Sabah and Sarawak’s rights”.

The Petra Jaya MP said what the PH government has to do now is show sincerity and a “certainty” it wants to restore all the terms eroded and violated in the agreement.

State Assistant Minister of Law and State-Federal Relations Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali was quoted by local newspapers today as saying it is possible for Putrajaya to return the rights to Sabah and Sarawak without having to go through Parliament.

A lawyer by training, she said, this could be done based on the Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) Report 1962 findings.

“The IGC Report is very clear. It has to be read with the federal constitution,” she said.

“That cannot be simply be ignored, the terms and conditions… it can be done without going through parliamentary amendment.

“They can, if they want to.” – September 18, 2018.