Two ways to right the wrong done in 1976
KUCHING: There are two ways to undo the
1976 amendment to the Federal Constitution that cost Sarawak its rights
as stated in the Malaysia Agreement 1963.
Former Bau-Lundu MP Patrick Anek Uren, who is a lawyer, said one option was through Parliament and the other via the State Legislative Assembly (DUN)—as the august House was a signatory of the Agreement.
“It is technically impossible to reverse the amendment done to the Federal Constitution in 1976 because Sarawak and Sabah have only 65 members of parliament, out of the 222,” he told The Borneo Post yesterday.
“But the reversal can be done if DUN passed a unanimous motion to reverse the decision and get Putrajaya to amend the Federal Constitution … as Sarawak DUN is part of the signatory of the Malaysia Agreement of 1963.”
Anek, who was MP from 1974 to 1986, was then Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Welfare; hence, he claimed he was unable to debate on the matter before the Bill was passed.
“In any case, both the chief ministers of Sarawak and Sabah consented to the amendment: so there was nothing we could do about it.”
The chief minister of Sarawak then was the late Tun Datuk Patinggi Abdul Rahman Ya’kub and Sabah’s chief minister then was Tan Sri Harris Salleh.
Anek was commenting on a statement by Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem when he closed a seminar on the history of Sarawak here on Sunday.
The chief minister insisted that Sarawak’s right as an equal partner in the federation should be restored. He hinted that MPs from Sarawak might propose in Parliament to reinstate an article of the Federal Constitution to enable the state to regain powers that had eroded over the years and also via direct negotiations with the federal government.
“Before that (the amendment in 1976), it says the states of Malaysia shall be (a) the states of West Malaysia, (b) Sarawak and Sabah, and (c) Singapore. Of course, Singapore no more lah. Now there is only one category,” he told reporters covering the event.
However, Adenan was quick to add: “No, partners by virtue of the Malaysia Agreement. The agreement was between Malaya, Sabah (then North Borneo), Sarawak, Singapore, and the United Kingdom, of course.
And when you are parties to an agreement, you are equal.”
Anek opined that what was done in 1976 could be considered ‘ultra vires’ as it was against the spirit of the Malaysia Agreement.
“I fully support the statement made by our chief minister that Sarawak should be considered one of the three regions that formed the Federation of Malaysia after Singapore left in 1965.
“Once that is achieved, we can ask for bigger development allocations from the federal government. Right now, we will never have enough allocation from the federal government because we are just one of the states.”
To develop Sarawak to be on par with the peninsula, Sarawak needed at least RM40 billion annually, he estimated.
“That amount is fair considering that Sarawak contributes at least RM122
billion to the federal coffer annually.”
Meanwhile, former Saratok MP Dato Sri Edmund Langgu Saga said he could not recall what transpired during Parliament sitting in 1976 even though he was deputy minister of agriculture then.
“I can’t recall what transpired in Parliament 40 years ago; perhaps, I was too busy carrying out my duties as a deputy minister.”
However, Langgu, who was an MP from 1963 to 1987, pointed out that he was always daring enough to stand up for the interest of the State.
“But as a member of the Cabinet, we cannot take part in the debates of any Bill. But suffice for me to say that the amendment of the Federal Constitution in 1976 was unfair to Sarawak as it had reduced our state to one of the 13 states in Malaysia. The Malaysia Agreement should not have been amended in Parliament,” said Langgu.
“So I hope our chief minister will right the wrong that had been done 40 years ago so that we can develop Sarawak and make it on par with the peninsula.”
Former Bau-Lundu MP Patrick Anek Uren, who is a lawyer, said one option was through Parliament and the other via the State Legislative Assembly (DUN)—as the august House was a signatory of the Agreement.
“It is technically impossible to reverse the amendment done to the Federal Constitution in 1976 because Sarawak and Sabah have only 65 members of parliament, out of the 222,” he told The Borneo Post yesterday.
“But the reversal can be done if DUN passed a unanimous motion to reverse the decision and get Putrajaya to amend the Federal Constitution … as Sarawak DUN is part of the signatory of the Malaysia Agreement of 1963.”
Anek, who was MP from 1974 to 1986, was then Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Welfare; hence, he claimed he was unable to debate on the matter before the Bill was passed.
“In any case, both the chief ministers of Sarawak and Sabah consented to the amendment: so there was nothing we could do about it.”
The chief minister of Sarawak then was the late Tun Datuk Patinggi Abdul Rahman Ya’kub and Sabah’s chief minister then was Tan Sri Harris Salleh.
Anek was commenting on a statement by Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem when he closed a seminar on the history of Sarawak here on Sunday.
The chief minister insisted that Sarawak’s right as an equal partner in the federation should be restored. He hinted that MPs from Sarawak might propose in Parliament to reinstate an article of the Federal Constitution to enable the state to regain powers that had eroded over the years and also via direct negotiations with the federal government.
“Before that (the amendment in 1976), it says the states of Malaysia shall be (a) the states of West Malaysia, (b) Sarawak and Sabah, and (c) Singapore. Of course, Singapore no more lah. Now there is only one category,” he told reporters covering the event.
However, Adenan was quick to add: “No, partners by virtue of the Malaysia Agreement. The agreement was between Malaya, Sabah (then North Borneo), Sarawak, Singapore, and the United Kingdom, of course.
And when you are parties to an agreement, you are equal.”
Anek opined that what was done in 1976 could be considered ‘ultra vires’ as it was against the spirit of the Malaysia Agreement.
“I fully support the statement made by our chief minister that Sarawak should be considered one of the three regions that formed the Federation of Malaysia after Singapore left in 1965.
“Once that is achieved, we can ask for bigger development allocations from the federal government. Right now, we will never have enough allocation from the federal government because we are just one of the states.”
To develop Sarawak to be on par with the peninsula, Sarawak needed at least RM40 billion annually, he estimated.
“That amount is fair considering that Sarawak contributes at least RM122
billion to the federal coffer annually.”
Meanwhile, former Saratok MP Dato Sri Edmund Langgu Saga said he could not recall what transpired during Parliament sitting in 1976 even though he was deputy minister of agriculture then.
“I can’t recall what transpired in Parliament 40 years ago; perhaps, I was too busy carrying out my duties as a deputy minister.”
However, Langgu, who was an MP from 1963 to 1987, pointed out that he was always daring enough to stand up for the interest of the State.
“But as a member of the Cabinet, we cannot take part in the debates of any Bill. But suffice for me to say that the amendment of the Federal Constitution in 1976 was unfair to Sarawak as it had reduced our state to one of the 13 states in Malaysia. The Malaysia Agreement should not have been amended in Parliament,” said Langgu.
“So I hope our chief minister will right the wrong that had been done 40 years ago so that we can develop Sarawak and make it on par with the peninsula.”
No comments:
Post a Comment