A TECHNICAL committee, headed by Sarawak Attorney-General Talat Mahmood Abdul Rashid, will in the “next few months” meet with Talat’s federal counterpart Mohamed Apandi Ali to lay the groundwork for  much anticipated negotiations to review Malaysia Agreement 1963, Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg said today.

He said since the second phase of the devolution of powers touched on Sarawak’s constitutional rights, which was a “delicate matter”, the state and federal AGs would work out the “the nuts and bolts” to take back to their respective high-level committees before they met.

“We want to (first) discuss the perimeters (of the meeting),” he said in a media conference at the end of the state Barisan Nasional Supreme Council meeting in Kuching today.

What was Sarawak’s position and how it would approach the negotiations to review MA63 was discussed in detail at the meeting.

Sarawak’s high level committee, which includes the state’s three deputy chief ministers, with Douglas Uggah as chairman, was approved by the state legislative assembly in November.

Putrajaya, however, has yet to form the committee that would represent the federal government’s interest in the talks.

Abang Johari had earlier stated that the federal committee must at least be headed by Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

The chief minister said negotiations would proceed along the recommendations of the 1962 report of the inter-governmental committee (IGC) regarding the formation of the federation of Malaysia.

The IGC had recommended that the MA63 be reviewed 10 years after  the federation was forms.

The review was never done, Abang Johari said.

“They never met because the chairman of the review committee, (then deputy prime minister) Tun Dr Ismail (Abdul Rahman) died (in the year the agreement was to be reviewed)”.

Dr Ismail died on August 2, 1973.

Abang Johari also denied the demand for a review and the return of eroded state rights were tantamount to a call for secession.

“Just because Sarawak had agreed to the federation does not mean we cannot raise issues which are common for the whole country.

“So the question of secession does not arise. We are in Malaysia and we will be in Malaysia forever.

“We just want our powers back.” – January 12, 2018.