KOTA KINABALU – Similar to concerns raised by legal expert Datuk Shad Saleem Faruqi on the execution of provisions under Article 153 on the rights of Sabah and Sarawak, Sabah Bersatu has expressed its disappointment over Putrajaya’s purported failure to respect and honour its constitutional obligations for decades.
Sabah Bersatu information chief Khairul Firdaus Akbar Khan today said the failure of the federal government to fulfil Article 153 was among the reasons Sabah has been lagging behind in terms of development and socio-economic progress.
“For one, MPs from Sabah and Sarawak make up only 25% of the 222 federal seats in Parliament, and this clearly violates Article 153.
“In terms of policy-making, there are many matters approved in Parliament that are not suitable for the people of Sabah and Sarawak due to this unfair representation.
“Further, they were made without taking account of the sentiments of the people in both states.
“It is the hope of the people in Sabah that this constitutional provision is respected, as well as others stipulated in the federal constitution, that maintains the special rights of the Borneo states for the benefit of their people,” said Firdaus in a statement here today.
Firdaus said Malaysian founding fathers such as the late Tun Mustapha Datu Harun and Tun Fuad Stephens have gone through hardship to ensure the rights of Sabah were protected and to have them incorporated into the federal constitution.
Khairul voiced Bersatu’s hope that the current state leadership under Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin and Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan will not put these past leaders’ efforts to waste and that they will defend Sabah’s rights at all cost.
Shad yesterday opined on what he viewed as serious constitutional breaches by the federal government against Sabah and Sarawak, as well what appears to be the lack of adequate representation of MPs from both states in Parliament, among other issues.
He also highlighted that the indigenous peoples of Sabah and Sarawak have the same special constitutional status as Malays in the peninsula do. – The Vibes, February 1, 2022
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