KOTA KINABALU – Three opposition leaders have filed a motion to the Dewan Rakyat to include the devolution of education and healthcare powers in the upcoming Federal Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2021, which is scheduled to be brought up on December 14.
Pakatan Harapan MPs; Stampin MP, Chong Chieng Jen; Tuaran MP, Madius Tangau; and Kota Kinabalu MP, Chan Foong Hin said they had presented the motion to Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun today.
According to Chong, these matters relate to the devolution of powers, whereby amendments should also be made under the Ninth Schedule List IIIA of the concurrent list to allow Sabah and Sarawak to have joint powers on the two matters.
“We are trying to add these two matters to the states. Under the current situation, only the federal government has the power to legislate on these two matters,” he said during a press conference following the Dewan Rakyat sittings.
Chong said the two matters should be expanded to be included in the second reading of the constitutional amendment.
Tangau said, during the reign of the Warisan-led Sabah government, Sabah had established the
Health and People’s Wellbeing Ministry and Education and Innovation Ministry, which had administrative powers, but not legislative.
“What we want now is for the state to be able to legislate its own laws. For instance, when the pandemic happened, Sabah had spent its own funds to establish its own modular hospital and temporary health facilities, as well as standard operating procedures (SOPs).
“The state government now, can only make a stand. At the end of the day, they need to ask the federal government whether they can form their own SOPs.
“There had been conflict on this matter, and this has resulted in delays, knowing the crisis in Sabah is different from the peninsula,” said Tangau, in justifying the inclusion in the forthcoming constitutional amendment.
Meanwhile, Chan said the motion was made to further improve the second reading of the Constitutional Amendment 2021.
“We should grab the golden opportunity to garner enough support for the constitutional amendment, to maximize the gain by carrying out devolution of power and decentralization, which is the core spirit of a federation.
“PH shall still support the proposed bill of constitutional amendment brought by the government of the day, but we want to see and ensure more meaningful devolution of power,” he said.
Sabah and Sarawak had given up their powers on health and education to the federal government in the early years of Malaysia.
But over the years, the geographical differences and vast size of the two Borneo states saw they had been left behind from other Peninsular Malaysia states. – The Vibes, November 30, 2021
