Visiting law professor Ranjit Singh of Universiti Utara Malaysia, blames Huguan Siou (paramount chief) Joseph Pairin Kitingan for the existing political system in Sabah which involves rule by proxy-control from Putrajaya.

bn supreme council mt meeting sapp sabah issue 190608 pairin kitingan The 'Rubicon' was crossed in 1990 when Pairin ( left ) pulled out his PBS (Parti Bersatu Sabah) from the ruling BN coalition at a critical time - the eve of general elections - said the professor to the local media yesterday.

"This (Pairin's defection) made the federal government decide on a permanent solution for Sabah i.e. the introduction of Umno and control of the state's politics by proxy-control," stressed Ranjit.

"From 1990 to 1993, the Federal Government was willing to tolerate some recalcitrance on the part of Sabahans."

Ranjit was elaborating on his remarks a day earlier at a seminar, 'Effective Policy, People Prosper', in Kota Kinabalu, organised by the Chief Minister's Department.

He agrees that attempts by nationalists in Sabah, and Sarawak as well, to achieve political domination have been snuffed out progressively and systematically by the federal government. They are aided in this by Muslim-led state governments in Sabah and Sarawak, he added, "acting as proxies for Putrajaya".

Ranjit, however, sees this proxy-control as impossible if the Dayak and Kadazan-Dusun-Murut communities in particular achieve total unity based on the concept of nationalism.

He bases this belief on the widely-prevailing notion among the local non-Muslim, non-Malay majority that they should exercise political leadership and domination in their own states.

Hence, it is by no means certain that the proponents of local nationalism have reconciled themselves to the existing power equation in Sabah and Sarawak.

Reconciliation, according to the professor, seems to be the current approach in the two states but it is not known for how much longer.

A reality that has to be accepted

The law Don, who authored 'The Making of Sabah 1865-1991', sees the existing political system in the state as unsustainable.

Instead, he advocates acceptance by the federal government that the majority of the people in Sabah and Sarawak are non-Malay and non-Muslim. He defines this as "the stark reality" in the two states ignored since 1963 by the federal government.

He does not recommend a shared political power model based on the Peninsular Malaysian experience or tacit support for Muslim leadership as inherently stable and suitable for the East Malaysian states.

the antidote article sarawak native people 270509 01 "The federal government's denial of the on-the-ground realities in Sabah and Sarawak have resulted in the non-extension of the special provisions in the federal constitution to the natives in the two states," observed Ranjit.

"It has also meant that the people in Sabah and Sarawak have not benefitted from the New Economic Policy."

Marginalisation and denial of the benefits of being a bumiputera continue in Sabah and Sarawak, he stressed, and all the more so since the imposition of proxy-control in the two states.

He faults Putrajaya's policy of assimilation for this state of affairs when the emphasis should be on national integration through accommodation.

Turning to the political power model, he warns that "the strategies employed successfully in Peninsular Malaysia may not be totally applicable in Sabah and Sarawak".

Both these two states are very different from Peninsular Malaysia, he noted.

port kota kinabalu aerial view 260209 He cites the differences as based on geographical features, population distribution, ethnic composition, social organisation, religious beliefs, economic systems, political structures and historical experiences.

The wide differences between both halves of Malaysia, separated by the South China Sea, was the reason that the Federation of Malaysia began as an equal partnership of Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore, reminded Ranjit.

"This was captured in the 1963 Malaysia Agreement."

However, he cautions the current batch of local politicians against reading too much into the 'Malaysia is an equal partnership' mantra given amendments to the federal constitution in 1973.

Equal partnership no more

"It's difficult now to claim that Malaysia is an equal partnership of Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak," said Ranjit.

"There must be a change in the mindset of Sabahans and Sarawakians. They need to understand that they are now in a Federation in every sense of the word."

The federal concept, continues Ranjit, is an alternative model to the earlier one in 1963 advocating equality and a sense of partnership among Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak even with the departure of Singapore in 1965.

He did not touch on re-current criticisms in Sabah and Sarawak that it was Singapore's exit that effectively ended the Malaysia experiment as a regional partnership.

NONE Notwithstanding the constitutional amendments that effectively ended Malaysia as an equal partnership of different territories, Ranjit assures that the special rights of Sabah and Sarawak "are in fact recognised and guaranteed".

This is not seen as a contradiction in terms given that the states in Peninsular Malaysia do not have the same special rights as the two states in Malaysian Borneo.

In the spirit of the new Malaysia since 1973, Ranjit sums up, Sabah and Sarawak have a case for a review of the current 5 percent oil royalty and greater autonomy than the states in Peninsular Malaysia. "In fact, such demands are totally justified and need to be accommodated," said Ranjit.

 

Ranjit was once a consultant to the Foreign Affairs Ministry. He was also the leader of the team which prepared the historical evidence for the case at the International Court of Justice pertaining to Malaysia's sovereignty over Sipadan and Ligitan islands.