PROVIDING Sabah and Sarawak with one-third of seats in the Dewan Rakyat as stipulated in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) is still in the discussion stage, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said yesterday.

However, he said the matter will take two to three years to complete because it needed to go through many stages including three main committees: the MA63 steering committee; MA63 technical committee and MA63 implementation action council, as well as involve various parties.

Fadillah said he chaired the MA63 technical committee, which would discuss issues related to MA63 based on topic and give priority to those that did not involve complicated legal or technical matters.

“Once it is decided at the technical level, it will then be taken to the implementation action council for final approval before being presented to the cabinet to make amendments to all related laws.

“The process is still long. We also have to get cabinet approval, before tabling it in parliament, which then requires a two-thirds majority to pass,” he said.

Fadillah said that the revised seat allocation for Sabah and Sarawak was important as it would not allow the peninsula to amend the Federal Constitution in a way that would eliminate the rights of the two states as enshrined in MA63.

He added that the return of autonomy in the education and health sectors was also currently in the discussion stage.

Fadillah said the Sarawak First slogan was created to restore the spirit of the people of Sarawak to build and develop Malaysia.

He said although there were calls for Sarawak to leave Malaysia, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) has expressed its commitment to the state remaining part of Malaysia. – Bernama, February 2, 2023.