Leaders of Sabah and Sarawak should rally behind Abdul Taib Mahmud to protect the interests of the people of the Borneo states and to fulfil the 18/20 points in the Malaysia Agreement, State Reform Party (Star Sabah) head Jeffrey Kitingan says.

“We need to speak with one voice to ensure that rights in the Malaysia Agreement are fulfilled and that their special rights and position that have been eroded through numerous constitutional amendments be restored,” Jeffrey said.

“...the leaders of Sabah and Sarawak need to focus and speak with one voice that the Malaysia Agreement needs to be implemented and fulfilled. We should rally behind Taib (now the Sarawak governor).”

Jeffrey was commenting on a statement by Chief Justice Arifin Zakaria, who had said Sabah and Sarawak are key partners in the Federation of Malaysia.

“Not only have the terms and conditions of the formation of Malaysia, as contained in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and various documents and verbal assurances not been complied with, there are numerous constitutional amendments which have eroded the special rights and position of Sabah and Sarawak,” Jeffrey said.

These special rights are highlighted in the book 'The Constitutional Rights of Sabah and Sarawak', which was launched by the chief justice.

“The common stand and voice of the Borneo states should be in no uncertain terms. The Malaysia Agreement must be fulfilled or all the three nation-states must be allowed to go separate ways as it is the wish and desire of a slight majority of Sabahans and Sarawakians,” Jeffrey said.

“Any other stand will give the Malayan federal leaders the wrong assumption and presumption that Sabah and Sarawak are not serious in their demands for the terms of the formation of Malaysia to be complied with. They will continue to remain comfortable in their high offices in Putrajaya and not care for Sabahans and Sarawakians until it is time for elections.

“For instance, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had promised the BN partners in Sarawak that there would be a cabinet reshuffle after the Umno general assembly last December to accommodate MPs from Sarawak whose parties were dissatisfied with the distribution of ministerial posts after the (13th) general election.     

“Despite Sabah and Sarawak holding ‘kingmaker’ positions, Najib has failed to undertake the cabinet re-shuffle.“Perhaps the Sarawak BN parties with the support of Taib in the background should just leave BN and see what happens next since the prime minister has seen no urgency to consider the interests of the BN parties there.

“If so, it won’t be surprising (to see) the prime minister, deputy prime minister  and top guns in Umno including ex-prime ministers making a beeline for Kuching to persuade the Sarawak BN components and the governor against ditching BN.”

‘Shabby treatment’

Jeffrey said the continuation of the downgrading of Sabah and Sarawak as the 12th and 13th states in Malaysia - contrary to what was intended in 1963 as equal partners - could no longer be accepted.

“The continuation of the rape and pillage of Sabah and Sarawak’s oil wealth and revenues and marginalisation in development allocations can no longer be condoned.

“Even in times of need, the people of Sabah and Sarawak are treated shabbily and not equal to other Malaysians in the peninsula as can be seen in the recent federal flood aid.

"In the peninsula, aid in cash and in kind was poured from various ministries and other quarters while in Sabah and Sarawak they received virtually nothing from the federal government.

“After 50 years of marginalisation and victimisation, the Malaysia Agreement and all its promises and assurances need to be implemented and fulfilled.

“There was to be a review after 10 years, yet 40 years later, nothing appears to be on the horizon. Even a motion to discuss the matter in Parliament was rejected as not urgent. If, after 50 years, it is not urgent, he said, Sabahans and Sarawakians cannot wait another 50 years for it to become urgent.  

“The rumblings of discontentment amongst the people in Sabah and Sarawak are at its highest point with a slight majority wanting Sabah and Sarawak to opt out of Malaysia.   

“Their sentiments are further fanned and fuelled by Malay ultras and religious bigots who keep insisting that Malaysia is land of the Malays and that the other Malaysians are to be chased out.   

“Yet, the prime minister and the federal government have taken no action to stop such seditious and treasonous acts or to correct the Malayan misconception that Malaya is Malaysia when it is clear as daylight that without Sabah and Sarawak, the key partners, there is no Malaysia.

“If Najib is serious with his national reconciliation plan, it must include the review and implementation of the terms and conditions of the formation of Malaysia.

"Otherwise, like Singapore in 1965, there should be an amicable parting of separate ways for the Borneo states.”

The writer, who uses a pseudonym, is based in Sarawak.