Warisan laid foundation for MA63 reforms - Shafie's aide

The groundwork to implement the terms in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) was undertaken by Warisan in 2018, said the chief of staff to Warisan president Shafie Apdal.

In a statement, Benedict Mansul said Shafie (above) had, in 2018, instructed the late Liew Vui Keong, who was the law minister, to initiate efforts to implement the MA63.

Mansul, who was one of Liew’s officers at the time, said the Pakatan Harapan federal government, the Warisan government in Sabah, and the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government reached a consensus on 17 out of 21 issues in just 17 months.

“These efforts to examine the implementation of the MA63 by the federal government were spearheaded entirely by Warisan through the ministerial portfolio of the late Liew.

“The success of all three governments in achieving a consensus on 17 of these 21 issues clearly shows that the state government of Sarawak and GPS, who were then in the opposition, have no qualms with the efforts undertaken by Warisan in relation to the MA63,” he said.

Mansul was responding to an article in FMT which cited analysts claiming that Warisan was pushing the “Borneo bloc” agenda to ride on the coattails of Sarawak's success in getting some concessions from Putrajaya of late.

Warisan’s campaign for the upcoming parliamentary election has been banking heavily on the idea of a “Borneo bloc” involving Warisan and GPS - both parties without headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

This was unlike Sabah BN and Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), the two main coalitions in Sabah. GRS comprises parties who are in the Perikatan Nasional coalition which is headquartered in Kuala Lumpur.

Mansul argued that not having an umbilical attachment to Peninsular Malaysia will allow the proposed “Borneo bloc” of Sabah and Sarawak to assist one another and be free of Putrajaya’s manipulations.

“Hence, the assumption that Warisan seeks to use the successes of GPS as political capital is completely false as GPS, too, is aware that the Borneo Bloc is important to fully implement the MA63,” he said.

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