The Malaysian Insight

THE federal cabinet’s plan to amend the Constitution granting equal status to Sabah and Sarawak will not automatically place the two Bornean states on equal footing within the Federation of Malaysia.

Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) activist Zainnal Ajamain said there are other provisions that needed to be amended.

These include Article 160 (2) to redefine the meaning of “The Federation”, which presently refers to the one established in 1957 under the Federation of Malaya Agreement, and not the Federation of Malaysia. 

“Any amendments will not be good for Sabah and Sarawak unless the definition of the federation is amended too,” he said, adding the constitution has inter-related provisions.

“Changing one part without changing the other may weaken the supreme law of the nation,” he told The Malaysian Insight. 

Putrajaya is expected to table a motion to restore the equal status of Sabah and Sarawak by amending Article 1 (2) in the ongoing Parliament sitting.

The two states had their equal status granted during the formation of Malaysia in 1963, but downgraded to that of states of the Federation in 1976 by the Dewan Rakyat.

Zainnal also said amendments were needed to other clauses under Article 1 on the Names, States and Territories of the Federation to reflect Sabah and Sarawak’s equal status. – The Malaysian Insight, March 12, 2019.