ABOUT AMENDMENT BILL ON ARTICLE 1(2)
Our PH-Warisan federal government had proposed an amendment bill on Article 1(2) recently during the current parliamentary session. The principal reason of that proposal is to restore the original status of Sabah and Sarawak as equal partner in Federation of Malaysia according to the Malaysian Constitution in 1963 version.
The existing Article 1(2) since 1976 sound as following:
'The States of the Federation shall be Johore, Kedah, Kelantan, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Penang, Perak, Perlis, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor and Trengganu.'
And the original amendment bill proposed via first reading on 4 April 2019 stated as following:
'The States of Federation shall be:
a) Johore, Kedah, Kelantan, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Penang, Perak, Perlis, Selangor and Terengganu;
b) Sabah and Sarawak.'
The proposed amendment bill above initially did not get welcoming from Sabah and Sarawak opposition MP as they regarded it as a meaningless move that did not wholly restore the original definition of Federation. For me, their argument is right because it did nothing change much on the existing clauses. It only shifted 'Sabah' and 'Sarawak' from the single sentence in the existing clause to the another grouping. This was not compatible with the aspiration and recommendation proposed by MA63 activists. Even me myself felt very doubtful for that proposal as it supposedly should be including a clear-cut statement to emphasize Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak as the three equal partners in the Federation of Malaysia.
Nevertheless, the amendment bill was altered shortly before via second reading and parliamentary debate on 9 April. As read by Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, it sound like this:
'The States of Federation shall be:
a) the States of Malaya, namely, Johore, Kedah, Kelantan, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Penang, Perak, Perlis, Selangor and Terengganu;
b) the Borneo States, namely Sabah and Sarawak.'
That alteration had made the proposal made sense as it finally compatible with the original clause in the Malaysian Constitution before 1976. However, the bill did not included amendment of defintion of Federation in Article 160(2). Although the opposition MP welcomed that bill as a great starter of restoration of equal partner status, but they still considered it as a rush and superficial move as there was a lot of detail about restoration of equal partner status should be scrutinised further by a Special Committee as well as the definition of Federation in Article 160(2) did not amended altogether. On the other hand, PH-Warisan MP strongly supported that bill, and even urged the opposition MP to vote yes to it so that at least 148 votes could be obtained to pass that amendment bill.
Under the Article 160(2), "'the Federation' means the Federation established under the Federation of Malaya Agreement 1957."
The attempt to pass the amendment bill failed eventually as only 138 votes were obtained while 59 abstained from voting. Nevertheless, it was still a great effort to uphold Malaysian Agreement 1963 (MA63) for truly implementation as promised by PH-Warisan government. We shall anticipate more collaboration among federal government, Warisan-PH-UPKO-led Sabah State government, and GPS-led Sarawak State government to achieve consensus for greater accomplishment in the restoration of Sabah and Sabah as equal partner with Malaya, and thus truly activation/implementation of MA63 in our modern nation-building agenda.
10.26 pm
13/4/2019
The existing Article 1(2) since 1976 sound as following:
'The States of the Federation shall be Johore, Kedah, Kelantan, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Penang, Perak, Perlis, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor and Trengganu.'
And the original amendment bill proposed via first reading on 4 April 2019 stated as following:
'The States of Federation shall be:
a) Johore, Kedah, Kelantan, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Penang, Perak, Perlis, Selangor and Terengganu;
b) Sabah and Sarawak.'
The proposed amendment bill above initially did not get welcoming from Sabah and Sarawak opposition MP as they regarded it as a meaningless move that did not wholly restore the original definition of Federation. For me, their argument is right because it did nothing change much on the existing clauses. It only shifted 'Sabah' and 'Sarawak' from the single sentence in the existing clause to the another grouping. This was not compatible with the aspiration and recommendation proposed by MA63 activists. Even me myself felt very doubtful for that proposal as it supposedly should be including a clear-cut statement to emphasize Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak as the three equal partners in the Federation of Malaysia.
Nevertheless, the amendment bill was altered shortly before via second reading and parliamentary debate on 9 April. As read by Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, it sound like this:
'The States of Federation shall be:
a) the States of Malaya, namely, Johore, Kedah, Kelantan, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Penang, Perak, Perlis, Selangor and Terengganu;
b) the Borneo States, namely Sabah and Sarawak.'
That alteration had made the proposal made sense as it finally compatible with the original clause in the Malaysian Constitution before 1976. However, the bill did not included amendment of defintion of Federation in Article 160(2). Although the opposition MP welcomed that bill as a great starter of restoration of equal partner status, but they still considered it as a rush and superficial move as there was a lot of detail about restoration of equal partner status should be scrutinised further by a Special Committee as well as the definition of Federation in Article 160(2) did not amended altogether. On the other hand, PH-Warisan MP strongly supported that bill, and even urged the opposition MP to vote yes to it so that at least 148 votes could be obtained to pass that amendment bill.
Under the Article 160(2), "'the Federation' means the Federation established under the Federation of Malaya Agreement 1957."
The attempt to pass the amendment bill failed eventually as only 138 votes were obtained while 59 abstained from voting. Nevertheless, it was still a great effort to uphold Malaysian Agreement 1963 (MA63) for truly implementation as promised by PH-Warisan government. We shall anticipate more collaboration among federal government, Warisan-PH-UPKO-led Sabah State government, and GPS-led Sarawak State government to achieve consensus for greater accomplishment in the restoration of Sabah and Sabah as equal partner with Malaya, and thus truly activation/implementation of MA63 in our modern nation-building agenda.
10.26 pm
13/4/2019
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