SARAWAK PKR appealed today to lawmakers in the two Borneo states “to discard their affiliations” and support the bill to amend the constitution to restore the state’s rights.

Vice-chairman See Chee How said there was nothing wrong with the wording of the bill to amend Article 1(2) of the federal constitution which was tabled in parliament on Thursday.

See, the Batu Lintang assemblyman and a lawyer by training, said the bill “in unequivocal terms has now placed Sarawak and Sabah to be equal in status to the collective of the 11 West Malaysian states”.

MPs from the ruling Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) and opposition Sabah MPs have argued the wording of the bill changes nothing to the status of Sabah and Sarawak as equal partners with the Federation of Malaysia and that it runs counter to the spirit of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).

See said the amendment from a single clause enumerating all the 13 states to separating “Sarawak and Sabah” from the other 11 West Malaysian states, under a separate clause (b), “has satisfied its intent and purpose to give recognition that Sarawak and Sabah are not merely states at par with any of the West Malaysian states”.

He said the bill restores the status of the two states as equal partners in the formation of Malaysia.

“This is because of the word ‘and’ at the end of the proposed sub-clause (a). In a legislature, the word ‘and’ by legal and constitutional interpretation is (1) conjunction, a word used to connect clauses; or (2) conjunctive, a word or expression acting as a conjunction.”

“Using this word ‘and’ in the context of the proposed bill to amend Article 1(2) of the federal constitution, it has the intent and meaning that Sarawak and Sabah are not just merely states which are at par, or equal to any of the 11 West Malaysian states as the present Article 1(2) implies.

He said secondly, by virtue of its conjunctive connotation, “it is now made clear that the Federation of Malaysia is made up of the 11 West Malaysian states, and the two East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak.

“That has, therefore, restored the position of Sarawak and Sabah as the founding partners of the Federation of Malaysia.”

Reversion to the original

See said seasoned MPs, Santubong rep Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, who are also lawyers, “should know full well that parliament makes laws but any ambiguity in legislatures may be tested in courts for their meanings and interpretation”.

“The adherence to established principles of drafting and enactment of the legislatures will keep ambiguity to the minimal, if not eliminating them.”

However, See said if he were an MP debating the bill in parliament, he would side with those MPs who want the wordings of the pre-1976 clauses retained.

He said it is a position he favours because it “preserves the historical significance of the ‘Malayan States’ and the ‘Borneo States’ in the formation of Malaysia.”

Sarawak Pakatan Harapan chairman Chong Chieng Jen, meanwhile, accused the Sarawak government of politicising the matter of the bill.

In a response to Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg who earlier today presented a list of reasons for the state to oppose the bill, Chong said since he could not not find anything wrong in the drafting of the Article1(2) bill , he must conclude that the ruling Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) was playing up the issue to gain political mileage.

Chong, who was branded a “traitor” yesterday by Tourism, Arts, Culture and Youth Minister Abdul Karim Hamzah for “defending the bill like crazy”, said any constitutional amendment that restores Sarawak to its rightful position “will prove the wrong done by Barisan Nasional to Sarawak all these decades”.

Just excuses

“GPS being part of BN will have no way of exonerating themselves from blame,” he said.

Chong said if Warisan in Sabah could accept the bill, “there is no reason why Sarawak cannot”.

“Abang Jo is just finding excuses to oppose the constitutional amendment bill.

“His statement is full of indications of a man who is trying to find a way out from his initial statement to support the Article 1(2) amendment.”

Chong said in Abang Johari’s press conference in Sarikei, there was no mention of the wording or faults was found in the drafting of the bill tabled in parliament on Thursday.

“He is now raising a new point – that is the need to amend Article 160 of the constitution.

“All along, attention, discussions and comments were only focused on Article 1(2),” he said.