Zainnal stresses a point while showing a section of the Federal Constitution.
KUCHING: An activist from Sabah is appealing to Sarawak MPs to support the amendment to Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution to restore the status of the two Borneo states as equal partners of Peninsular Malaysia, when it is re-tabled at the Dewan Rakyat this March.

      Zainnal Ajamain expressed his hope that there will be no repeat of Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) MPs choosing to abstain from voting as what had happened when the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2019 was tabled in Parliament on April 9 last year.
“The Sabah State Legislative Assembly (DUN) has passed a resolution to table this (Bill) again in the coming parliamentary session.
 “I hope that Sarawak (MPs) will not repeat what they did on April 9, 2019 because this is for the rakyat (people) and not for politics,” he told a press conference here yesterday.
     Zainnal, who is also Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) advisor to the Sabah government, stressed that the amendment to Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution is all about Sabah and Sarawak’s rights, adding he could not fathom why Sarawak decided to abstain from voting in the first place.
“They wanted to amend the word ‘federation’ under Article 160 of the Federal Constitution but the problem is Article 160 is not part and parcel of Annex A of MA63.
“This means that it is something new and you want to change something new on that day itself. You can’t do that because you have to go through the process of negotiation,” he said.
     He also wondered whether Sarawak is ‘trying to play games’ and wanted to ‘drag out the issue’. The activist also cited an amendment of the Federal Constitution that came to force in 1976 where Article 1(2) says: ‘The States of the Federation shall be Johore, Kedah, Kelantan, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Penang, Perak, Perlis, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor and Terengganu.’
      He said when Malaysia was formed on Sept 16, 1963, it read: ‘the States of the Federation shall be – (a) the States of Malaya, namely, Johore, Kedah, Kelantan, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Penang, Perak, Perlis, Selangor and Terengganu; and (b) the Borneo States, namely Sabah and Sarawak; and (c) the State of Singapore.’
‘The State of Singapore’ was dropped after Singapore’s departure from the federation on Aug 9, 1965.
“Here, territory is important because as mentioned in Clause 2, the State of Malaya is one territory and Borneo States is another territory.
“As it is now, we are all under one territory and therefore must share everything with Malaya. So how can Sarawak, for instance, claim its oil and gas without it being in its territory? At the end of the day we lose everything.
“So why is Sarawak not supporting the amendment (Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution) and they want to make changes knowing that making changes will require them to renegotiate?”
He said if Sarawak wants to claims its rights on oil and gas, its territory must therefore be defined.
“We cannot claim our oil and gas when we are under Malaya territory. They will exert the same right.
“What we want now is to revert back to MA63 as it was provided (in the 1965-1976 version) and this is part of the reason why I would like the Sarawak government not to repeat its performance back in April last year,” he said, adding that when it comes to MA63, Sabah and Sarawak have to work together.

My comments:
I think that Zainnal has lost his very sense as a socialist to say that Sarawak MP should have complied to the Amendment on 9 April, 2019.  I wonder what he is now.  He behaves like a run-dog to PH government.  He  should not be considered a socialist anymore as he has lost all the qualities befitted.  Oh, he is now the advisor of the Sabah government.  I think that he is too eager to show off and for recognition.  He looks so funny now.
       He just refused to recognise the fact that MA63 is null and void from the very beginning.  I wonder what amendment to make and bark about.  It is really a curse having this kind of Sabahan who is ever ready to betray Sabahans for own benefits and interests.  He is not a lawyer to talk about laws as if he were an expert..  He is like a self-claimed doctor with no professional qualification.