A NEW Malaysia Agreement must be formulated as the aims of the original 1963 plan has gone off course, with many of its provisions still unfulfilled, said Sabah opposition leader Dr Jeffrey Kitingan.

The Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku president said once a new agreement is drawn up, Putrajaya ought to assure it would fulfil it, failing which, Sabah and Sarawak should be allowed to separate from the federation of Malaysia.

Kitingan said Sabahans wanted the Malaysia that was promised in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), in which Sabah and Sarawak was promised equal status with the federation.

He said as an equal partner, Sabah wanted “Merdeka sepanjang masa” (independence for all time), as written in the state anthem.

“The MA63 can no longer be used as a basis for national cohesion. As nations with their respective governments, Sabah and Sarawak cannot continue to be colonies.

“We need to fully realise that the MA63 is actually an agreement between Malaya and Britain.

“We were only asked to sign it without any power because we were still British colonies at that time on July 9, 1963,” he said at a Malaysia Day gathering at the Keningau Oath Stone monument today.

Kitingan said the MA63 was not legally binding on the two Borneo states, and that Sabahans were free to draft a new agreement comprising new guarantees. 

“Sabah and Sarawak have been played out, made a fool of, ravaged, exploited, and corrupted with gifts of positions, jobs from mega projects, as well as been subjected to the divide-and-rule strategy under the insidious politics of federalism.

“We have now opened our eyes and realised that the Malaysia we once accepted with a lot pride and with a hope that it would become our shared federation – such a federation doesn’t exist.

“What we have is only Malaya, the Persekutuan Tanah Melayu created in 1957, which later became Malaysia on September 16, 1963,” he said.

Jeffrey, who is also Tambunan assemblyman, also railed against why Sabah and Sarawak had to celebrate the August 31 Merdeka Day every year.

He said Putrajaya continued to ignore the fact that Malaysia only came into existence in 1963, and that the August 31, 1957 independence day celebrations held no significance to East Malaysians. – September 16, 2019.