DEWAN Rakyat has approved the government’s bill (policy stage) to amend the Federal Constitution with more than two-thirds majority.

After the division vote today, 199 lawmakers voted for the bill with no abstentions or opposers while 21 lawmakers were, however, absent.

The minimum number of lawmakers needed to approve a constitutional amendment is 148.

Earlier today, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Parliament) Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar tabled four constitutional amendments, aimed at restoring the positions of Sabah and Sarawak, in the Dewan Rakyat.

The four amendments, which are part of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that was signed with Pakatan Harapan in September, is part of the reforms promised by Ismail Sabri Yaakob after he became prime minister in August.

Separate territories, Malaysia Day

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

In the second 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 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 amendment continues: “The Federation, which is known as Malaysia, will comprise 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 refers to “the Federation established under the Federation of Malaya Agreement 1957”.

Definition of natives

In the fourth and final amendment, article 161A (6) on the definition of Sarawak natives will be 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. – December 14, 2021.