The Malaysian Insight

EQUAL partnership in a federation, in this case the federation of Malaysia, is a myth, said constitutional expert Professor Shad Saleem Faruqi.

The Universiti Malaya law professor said there is no such thing as equal partnership in a federation, and that the only practical way for Sabah and Sarawak to achieve this in Malaysia is to amend the constitution with the aim of forming a confederation. 

The character of a federation is that it is a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or regions under a central federal government. In a federation, primary sovereignty is given to a national government that has control over every member of the federation.  In a confederation, each member maintains primary sovereignty over its own affairs while allowing only some power to a national government.

“For example, Quebec in Canada has special rights, Mindanao in the Philippine has special rights, Acheh in Indonesia has additional rights. This is called asymmetry. 

“If Sabah and Sarawak were equal to the Federation of Malaya then it would not be a federation, it would be a confederation,” he said at a talk organised by think-tank, Society Empowerment and Economic Development of Sabah, yesterday.

He said this in response to a question from the floor on whether amending Article 1(2) of the federal constitution was essential for the two Borneon states to gain equal partnership with the Federation of Malaysia. 

Shad Saleem was one of the panel speakers at the open forum entitled “Article 1(2): Re-Imagining the New Federation of Malaysia?”. 

On Sarawak’s insistence on amending Article 160(2) to reflect the terms of Malaysia Agreement 1962, Shad Saleem said that would be unfavourable to Putrajaya. 

He said the Malaysian federation had also endorsed many international treaties and changes to the constitution would render the treatise null and voice.

Shad Saleem also said the law does not allow the Borneon states to leave the federation. 

Secession, he said, would be considered treason and could lead to war. 

“Sabah does not have the right to leave. Legally speaking, (its departure) will not be enforceable in the court of law.”

On Singapore’s departure from the federation in 1965, he said: “Singapore was kicked out, it did not leave. Once you are part of a federation, you cannot leave unless the federation allows it, like (it allowed) Singapore.” – April 21, 2019.