GPS yet to decide on backing restoration of Sabah, S'wak status
Putrajaya has not briefed Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) on the proposal to amend the Federal Constitution to make Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia equal partners.
This is according to the coalition's secretary-general Alexander Nanta Linggi, who raised concerns about the amendment expected to be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat today...
Putrajaya has not briefed Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) on the proposal to amend the Federal Constitution to make Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia equal partners.
This is according to the coalition's secretary-general Alexander Nanta Linggi, who raised concerns about the amendment expected to be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat today.
As Linggi told Malaysiakini, GPS has yet to decide on whether it will support the move to restore the status of Sarawak and Sabah.
He said GPS can only back Putrajaya's motion after it is satisfied that the proposed amendment will truly benefit Sarawak and its people.
"We will have a look. If it is good for us, we will support it," he said.
In its election manifesto, Pakatan Harapan had pledged to return Sabah and Sarawak to the status accorded by the Malaysia Agreement 1963.
The MA63 Steering Committee was then formed in December 2018, and tasked with coming up with a set of recommendations in six months.
Last month, the cabinet agreed to amend Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution to make the two Borneo states equal partners in the federation.
"There is more than the Federal Constitution that we are looking at," said Linggi, adding that Putrajaya had all this while neglected equal funding to all states, as enshrined in the Federal Constitution.
"We want to wait until the MA63 Steering Committee comes out with its findings and recommendations.
"More important are the details in the MA63, the inter-governmental committee report (IGC) and the Cobbold Commission Report. In these lie the details of how things should be implemented.
"We want to look at the proposed amendment before it is tabled, so that we will understand what is going to be tabled. If you want our support, discuss with us first," he said.
On March 25, Linggi told the Dewan Rakyat that he might not support the constitutional amendment without the consent of the Sarawak government and state legislative assembly.
Currently, Harapan has 135 MPs in the Dewan Rakyat, including nine from Warisan and one from Upko.
It needs the backing of at least 148 MPs, or two-thirds of Parliament, to amend the Federal Constitution.
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