KOTA KINABALU – Sabah should hold a special assembly sitting ahead of the constitutional amendment to align provisions of the Malaysia Agreement 1963, said Kadamaian assemblyman Datuk Ewon Benedick today.
He said all Sabah assemblymen should be allowed to debate in the state assembly to have a single voice over the agreement.
“The implementation of the MA63 must be revisited every 10 years from 1973, but it was not done. Sabahans have the right to know the reason the agreement was not implemented, whether this was done intentionally, or whether the Sabah government had allowed this to happen,” he said in a statement today.
On October 6, federal law minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the first reading of the constitutional amendment will be made on October 26 and followed by a second reading on October 28.
Last night, Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan also demanded the amendment should be done to clearly identify the three partners in the federation.
He said this means the first paragraph of Article 1(2) of the constitution should only mention Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak.
Benedick said the special sitting should also debate on the federal act implemented during the 1969 emergency proclamation, like the Petroleum Development Act 1974 that saw Sabah losing its biggest natural oil and gas resources to the federal government via national petroleum firm, Petronas.
“After the emergency proclamation was abolished in 2011, the Petroleum Development Act and other federal acts should have ceased.
“The special state assembly sitting should also reject Territorial Sea Act 2021 and stress Sabah border rights based on the North Borneo (Alteration of Borders) Order in (Council) 1954.”
Benedick said the special sitting should also be pressed for the restoration of Sabah and Sarawak’s status as equal partners in the Federation of Malaysia under Article 1(2) of the federal constitution.
Ewon, who is also United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation vice-president, said the state assembly is the best platform to iron out such issues. – The Vibes, October 12, 2021
