THE Ismail Sabri Yaakob administration will table four constitutional amendments aimed at restoring the positions of Sabah and Sarawak.

According to the proposed bill that was given to MPs this morning, the amendments will involve Articles 1 (2), 160 (2) and 161A (6) of the Federal Constitution.

Similar to when tabled during the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration in 2019, the first proposed amendment to Article 1 (2) is aimed at defining Sabah and Sarawak as separate territories, instead of states under the Federation of Malaysia.

In the proposed amendment, Sabah and Sarawak will be defined as two territories under Malaysia, instead of being lumped together with the 13 states of the Federation.

Defining Malaysia Day

In the second proposed amendment, the government will insert the definition of Malaysia Day for the first time in more than 58 years. 

This definition – which states that Malaysia Day falls on September 16, 1963 – will be inserted into Article 160 (2) (on definitions of various terms).

This is the date on which Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore agreed to form the Federation with Malaya, thus creating Malaysia. Prior to this, the date of Malaysia Day had never been stated in the Federal Constitution.

Redefining the Federation

In the third amendment, the government has proposed to redefine “the Federation” under Article 160 (2) as “the Federation first formed under the Perjanjian Persekutuan Tanah Melayu 1957 and later finalised on July 1963 between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Malay Federation, North Borneo (Sabah), Sarawak and Singapore”.

The proposed amendment continues: “The Federation, which is known as Malaysia, will comprise of the colonies of North Borneo and Sarawak, and Singapore and the existing states of the Malay Federation with Singapore leaving the Federation on August 7, 1965.”

This new definition will replace the current one which simply states that the Federation means “the Federation established under the Federation of Malaya Agreement 1957”.

Definition of natives

In the fourth and final amendment, the government is proposing to amend Article 161A (6) concerning the definition of Sarawak natives.

The proposed amendment will see Sarawak redefine “natives” as any citizen from Sarawak (as defined under the state’s constitution on races) and remove Article 161A (7) which defines the different natives. 

The proposed constitutional amendments have also been listed in today’s Order Paper as the first order of business. – November 3, 2021.