KOTA KINABALU – The delay in re-tabling proposed amendments to Article 1(2) of the federal constitution is based on the likelihood of the opposition not supporting the motion, said Datuk Seri Maximus Ongkili.
The minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Sabah and Sarawak affairs said his assertion is based on the bill’s defeat in Parliament previously, during the time of the Pakatan Harapan government.
“Regarding Article 1(2), if I push for it in Parliament, I’ll be surprised if the opposition supports it.
“We all know that the opposition has Sabahans and Sarawakians as members. Despite this, if I table the bill, they might not support it,” he told a virtual press conference today.
The amendments are in relation to the restoration of Sabah and Sarawak’s status as equal to the peninsula.
Ongkili said he was referring to Article 1(2), and not restoring state rights as a whole, in his comments to the media in March last year.
He was reported as saying then that he would resolve the Malaysia Agreement 1963 issue within six months of March 12, 2020.
The Kota Marudu MP, who had just been appointed minister following the Sheraton Move that saw the PH administration’s fall, said he held talks with Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, and was instructed to engage with parties on both sides of the political divide over the bill. – The Vibes, June 17, 2021
