HAD Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) supported the government’s bill on amending Article 1(2) on restoring the status of Sabah and Sarawak, the block would have received its wish to have specific words included to recognise the two states as Borneo entities.

But GPS backtracked and abstained from voting, despite Putrajaya agreeing to its request.

A day before the amendment’s tabling and second reading on April 9, GPS whip Fadillah Yusof (PBB-Petrajaya) sent a letter to Dewan Rakyat Speaker Mohamad Ariff Mohd Yusof to alter the wording.

In the April 8 letter sighted by The Malaysian Insight, GPS requested that in the amendment to Article 1(2), the term “Borneo states” must be inserted when referring to Sabah and Sarawak, and requested that it be allowed to table this change in the committee stage of the bill.

The committee stage would have come after voting on the second reading but the amendment was never passed after Pakatan Harapan failed to secure the two-thirds majority or 148 MPs needed to push through the constitutional amendment. 

Only 138 MPs voted “aye” while 59 MPs from BN, PAS and GPS abstained. There were no rejections.

The government’s agreement to GPS’ request was stated by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad on April 9 during the tabling of the amendment.

He said then Putrajaya would add the words “Borneo states” to the amendment during the committee stage.

“This revision will be suggested at the committee stage to bring back the original wording of the constitution in 1963 without any other changes after taking into account Singapore had left the federation of Malaysia in 1965,” said Dr Mahathir, as recorded in the parliamentary Hansard.

Article 1(2) would then read as follows: the states of the federation shall be – the states of Malaya namely Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Penang, Perlis, Selangor and Terengganu; and the Borneo states namely Sabah and Sarawak.

Fadillah’s letter to the speaker had proposed the same wording.

A source said GPS’ letter to the speaker was sent on the same day (April 8) as the government’s briefing to MPs about the amendment. Opposition MPs were also invited and a few attended.

“Among those who attended were Barisan Nasional’s Kinabatangan MP Bung Moktar Radin and Star’s Jeffrey Kitingan, who is Keningau MP,” said the source.

“At the meeting, some of the Sabah and Sarawak MPs suggested altering the wording of the amendment to the 1963 version.”

But despite the government agreeing to this, GPS abstained from voting, said the source.

Putrajaya expected GPS to support the amendment since the executive had agreed to include the words it requested, the source said.

“We still don’t know why they decided not to support the amendment,” said the source.

Additionally, the government also acceded to another request to have a parliamentary select committee on the restoration of Sabah and Sarawak’s rights, said the source.

This was stated by Dr Mahathir during the winding-up session on the bill on April 9.

He said the government would allow a parliamentary select committee, consisting of Sabah and Sarawak MPs, to review the implementation of the 1963 Malaysia Agreement (MA63).

“The government is aware that there are no MPs in the cabinet’s special committee on MA63. A select committee will allow them to present their own report to the special committee and the chairman of this select committee will be included in the cabinet’s special committee,” said Dr Mahathir, as recorded in Hansard.

It was the PH government’s first attempt at amending the constitution and to restore Sabah and Sarawak’s constitutional positions since becoming the federal government last year. – April 17, 2019.