MA63 RIGHTS CAN BE RESTORED WITHOUT FUSS; BORNEO BLOC VITAL – LEIKING
December 12, 20171024
By BORNEOTODAY REPORTERS
PENAMPANG: Darell Leiking has expressed doubt over the pledge made by the Prime Minister, that the rights accorded to Sabah and Sarawak under the Malaysia Agreement 1963, (MA63) will be restored.
There is in fact no need for Najib Razak to talk about it because he can restore those rights immediately without having to make a big fuss out of it, the Member of Parliament for Penampang said.
“All Najib needs to do is to get Parliament, as well as his BN-led Sabah Government, to implement all IGC Recommendations vis Article 8 of MA63 without delay,” he said in a statement.
Leiking pointed out that the late Adenan Satem (Sarawak Chief Minister) never made a fuss out of MA63; in fact, when he said that he was going to pursue MA63, he did so without any announcement and did what he had to do.,
He said for Najib to make such a pledge during the Umno General Assembly and with GE14 around the corner, only showed his desperation to win the hearts of Sabahans and Sarawakians to ensure that he remains in power.
“We had Zahid Hamidi (deputy Prime Minister) who warned us not to talk about ‘regionalism’ which essentially is about Sabah’s and Sarawak’s inherent rights and privileges agreed to during the formation of the Federation of Malaysia that made Sabah and Sarawak different from the Federation of Malaya, and such example of this privilege is ‘Borneonisation’, among others.
NAJIB RAZAK
“We also had Pandikar Amin Mulia (Parliament Speaker) who claimed that there was no such thing as Sabah and Sarawak being of equal standing with Malaya and Singapore.
“Thus, would Najib be willing to lose his Malay base voters when he knows very well that by fully implementing MA63, the status of Sabahans and Sarawakians will be elevated to a much higher position than the Malays, if not equal,” said Leiking.
Leiking, who is also the Parti Warisan Sabah deputy president, said while Najib had assured that the rights will be returned, what people want to know is when exactly this will happen, as Sarawak had been very methodical with their own deadline in pursuing the re-activation of MA63.
He added: “My query is also due to some unfulfilled promises and assurances made by Najib to the Sabahans prior to GE13; even in Penampang, the Type 3 Hospital at Kg. Dambai, Penampang as well as the Secondary School at Upper Moyog, Penampang all of which he promised 5 years ago have yet to materialise.
“We do not want Najib, who has a questionable credibility, both internationally and nationally, to use MA63 to fish votes from the Sabahans through BN Sabah that is ipso facfo entrusted to save UMNO Nasional.
“We have seen so many broken promises and most of all, unreasonable delays over so many issues, so it is only apt for the Sabahans to be extra careful over any of the political pledge or assurance coming from him.”
He however believe that the way forward for both Sabah and Sarawak in this matter is to come out with a cooperation that extend beyond political necessities between the Borneo States.
According to Leiking there is a need for a Federal Government that is sincere and respectful enough to understand the position of Sabah and Sarawak within the Federation of Malaysia by first and foremost, activating Article 8 of the MA63, we cannot simply put all our hopes on any party that holds the Federal government.
“Thus our only hope would be to come out the ‘Borneo Bloc’ that will essentially be able to stop any “Malaya narrative” (especially by UMNO) over Sabah and Sarawak, the way Singapore did previously,” he added
“After all, Sarawak itself do not want Umno to control their State and this ‘Borneo Bloc’ could prove very effective because politicians from both States will be made free through MA63 and will not be bound to act due to political duress or intimidation.”