KUCHING: The passing of the Constitution (Amendment) Bill will allow more rights belonging to Sarawak intentionally or unintentionally eroded to be restored in line with the amendment to Article 160(2) of the Federal Constitution.
Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) Deputy Youth Chief Fazzrudin Abdul Rahman expressed his appreciation and gratitude to all members of Parliament (MP) who supported the bill, to empower Sabah and Sarawak as equal partners in the Malaysian federation.
"This also reflects their awareness on the importance of restoring the status of Sarawak and Sabah in the Malaysian federation.
"This is good news to all the people of Sarawak and Sabah who have been waiting for so long for the position of these two regions in Borneo to be strengthened as equal partners in the formation of Malaysia," he said in a statement today.
Fazzrudin, who is defending his Tupong seat in the 12th Sarawak election said this was a significant step because after this, the Sarawak government can demand the rights that have been enshrined in MA63 and also those stated in the Intergovernmental Committee (IGC) Report 1962.
He said the Sarawak government under Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) has formulated various initiatives in restoring Sarawak's rights including introducing state sales tax (SST) and also being empowered in gas distribution based on the Distribution of Gas Ordinance 2016 (DGO 2016).
He said Sarawak has also regained control of oil mining and exploration in all the onshore areas of the state, now being carried out by Petroleum Sarawak Bhd (Petros).
"All this has been implemented in the last five years, and the GPS government has many more plans to demand for the restoration of eroded rights from the federal government.
"This reflects the commitment of the GPS government in defending the rights of Sarawak based on MA63, the IGC Report and the Federal Constitution," he said.
Fazzrudin said it is hoped that this noble effort will continue to receive undivided support from the people of Sarawak, thus helping to develop the state for the benefit of all.
Yesterday, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun announced that 200 members of parliament had supported the bill while the remaining 20 MPs were not present in the House during the first bloc voting for the second reading of the bill under the policy stage. No one rejected the amendments brought by the government.
The bill, which was tabled for its first reading on Nov 3, among others sought to restore Sabah and Sarawak's position as equal partners in the federation with the peninsular states.
The bill proposed to amend Article 1 of the Federal Constitution by replacing Clause 2 to say that the states of the Federation comprise of:
(a) the states of Malaya, namely Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Perlis, Penang, Selangor, and Terengganu; and
(b) the Borneo states, namely Sabah and Sarawak.
The amendments include Article 160 (2) of the constitution by adding the definition of Malaysia Day to replace the word "Federation" in accordance with the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
Aside from this, Article 161A of the constitution will also be amended by replacing paragraph (a) of Clause 6 with "in relation to Sarawak, a person who is a citizen and belongs to one of the races specified by the state law as indigenous to the state" and to remove Clause 7.