Senate president: Sabah, Sarawak’s right to have over one-third seats must not be ignored

Datuk Awang Bemee Awang Ali Basah. Photo credit: Firdaus Ismail/TVS

By DayakDaily Team

KUALA LUMPUR, July 24: The Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) and Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) Report showed that Sabah and Sarawak had agreed to form Malaysia on the condition that their rights are not affected.

Dewan Negara president Datuk Awang Bemee Awang Ali Basah said this included the issue of Sabah and Sarawak having less than one-third of Parliamentary seats.

He also said if there is any provision that amended the Federal Constitution so as to cause the rights of Sabah and Sarawak to be eroded, it has violated the MA63.

“If we look at the Cobbold Commission report, it is very clear that when Malaysia was formed, there was no region that had two-thirds (of parliamentary seats).

“This is the arrangement written and enshrined in our agreement,” he said, TVS reported today.

Awang Bemee further said that there is no state in Malaysia that can override the rights of Sabah and Sarawak which currently have less than one-third of Parliament seats.

Touching on the Sarawak government’s negotiations with the federal government on MA63, Awang Bemee said there is still much that needs to be refined even though progress has been made.

“We (Sarawak) don’t want more and we don’t want less.

“We only want what was agreed upon when establishing Malaysia (and) it must be enshrined in the Federal Constitution,” he added. — DayakDaily