Federation must reflect on Malaysia Agreement of 1963 KOTA KINABALU: The current Malaysian Federation must be restructured to reflect the original purpose and resolution made in the Malaysia Agreement 1963. The current structure of the federation, said Sabah Star President Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan, had veered away from the fundamentals of the agreement especially after Singapore left the federation and both Borneo states were downgraded from associate partners of the federation to mere states. This had caused a dilemma among the people in both Sabah and Sarawak. They are asking, should we stay or leave the federation? If we stayed, like now, our condition is as if we are colonised by Malaya, we are not in control and we are dependent on Malaya, politically, economically and constitutionally. But if we leave, we will likely be outnumbered by illegal immigrants, it is politically impossible to do so and we do not have our own defence or military power. We are helpless in both situations. It is a dilemma and it has caused a lot of unhappiness among the peoples, he said during the Malaysia at Crossroads forum here, Wednesday. The three-day forum which started Wednesday and will end on Friday at the Hakka Hall is organised by Progressive Institute of Public Policy Analysis (PiPPA). Currently, he said, the people in Sabah and Sarawak realised that the federation is not what they had hoped for and not what they wanted or expected at all. “We were promised A but it turned out to be Z. There is a big gap in terms of expectation and if this is left unattended, we will have problems in the future, he warned. Jeffrey stated that the current structure in the country is no longer a federation but unitary and claimed that the Malaysia project is not a goodwill project but a takeover of Sabah and Sarawak, especially both states resources, by Malaya. Even after the federation was formed in 1963, he said, the federal government failed to formulate a new constitution and instead used the existing Malaya Constitution, with additional annexes for Sabah and Sarawak respectively. Malaya had promoted itself to lord over us and demoted Sabah and Sarawak under its domination. Isnt that a colonisation also? In terms of parliamentary seats, the distribution is unfair. I am from Keningau. And I can put Penang, Malacca and Kedah into Keningau and still have room to spare. Yet, Keningau is represented by one MP and three assemblymen. Whereas these three states, they have three MBs, several MPs as well as assemblymen. So, is there a mystery now why Sabah is still under-developed? he said. Jeffrey suggested that there are several ways out of the dilemma. Personally, he said, he would prefer negotiation to resuscitate the spirit of Malaysia Agreement 1963 to the present day. The agreement which was signed before Sabah and Sarawak gained independence, referred to both states as colonies which Jeffrey said is unfair since colonies will have to listen to their political masters, the British. He suggested that the agreement be reviewed and re-signed by independent Sabah and Sarawak. Ideally, we should have our own Prime Minister and our own states. Sabah has six residencies and Sarawak has nine divisions. Those can be converted to states with their own assemblies. The federation will have three Prime Ministers then, and each will be the federation Prime Minister based on rotation. At any one time, we will have three Deputy Prime Ministers from all three independent nations that constitute the federation, he said. Jeffrey acknowledged that some people might complain that Umno will still dominate the political environment in the federation, but he argued that the situation might change if his suggestions are turned to reality. 30/08/2014 Daily Express By Tracy Patrick
Posted on: Fri, 05 Sep 2014 09:08:46 +0000
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