SANDAKAN – In an effort to keep the push for a constitutional amendment to restore the rights of Sabah and Sarawak, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng admitted that it was one of the reasons to “allow” Budget 2022 to pass at the policy stage on Thursday.
He said Pakatan Harapan (PH) could not risk jeopardising its demand in the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the federal government.
The demands in the MoU include amending the federal constitution to restore Sabah and Sarawak’s rightful status in accordance with the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
“When we talk about the MoU, it is not just about giving money to fight Covid-19 or giving money to fight a recession – it is also about the rights of Sabah and Sarawak in MA63. We signed the MoU so that we could restore the status of Sabah and Sarawak, because we need a two-thirds majority in Parliament to amend the constitution.
“Back when PH was the government, we did not have the majority, and neither does the government today.
“So with this, we (had) put aside our political differences for the people of Sabah and Sarawak. We want to restore their rights,” he said at a press conference held after the Sabah DAP ordinary convention at Hakka Hall here today.
Lim said PH objects to many parts of Budget 2022, but these objections will be brought to the committee stage targeted to the respective ministries.
“Next week, we will discuss among PH and the ministries involved about the allocations that we think are unfair. We object to certain allocations, but not the entire budget.”
Lim said this is currently the best strategy, given that the MoU is now in place.
“Of course, it would be different without the MoU. But with the MoU, there are consequences. We have worked so hard to push for amendments to restore Sabah and Sarawak’s status, we don’t want to put that in jeopardy or danger.
“We felt that, at the present moment, let us stick to it (MoU). For the time being, we want to see the amendment go through,” he said.
Yesterday, Warisan leaders including its deputy president Datuk Darell Leiking and Youth chief Datuk Mohd Azis Jamman slammed PH for not supporting Warisan and Parti Pejuang Tanah Air during their call for a bloc vote, leading to the budget being passed at the policy level.
Leiking said the incident showed that the MoU effectively puts PH on a leash. – The Vibes, November 21, 2021
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