Thumbs down to new agreement
Published on: Thursday, July 07, 2022
Our report on July 3 (right)
Kota Kinabalu: Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili (pic) described the recent proposal for a new Malaysia Agreement as “short-sighted and misguided.”Disagreeing with Umno Deputy President Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah and Sarawak Affairs) said the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) is a sacred and foundation document of the formation of the Federation of Malaysia.
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“Which means, no MA63, no Malaysia. Further, with the constitutional amendment unanimously passed by Parliament in December 2021, MA63 is now part of the Federal Constitution.
“The proposal for a new Malaysia Agreement, as suggested by Tok Mat, and supported by Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan is simply short-sighted and will not strengthen Malaysia,” said Maximus, in a statement, Wednesday.
He stressed that it was unthinkable for any loyal Malaysian to abandon MA63 in place of a new agreement, whose contents have not even been considered.
“Will the new agreement strengthen the foundation document of MA63, or abandon it? Based on limited exposition by proposers of the new agreement, the misguided thinking is to desert MA63 in place of a new one,” he said.
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Maximus also concurred with Sarawak Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Art Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahmah Hamzah in describing the new proposal as a “crazy idea”, stating that no one should change the fundamental agreement which led to the formation of Malaysia.
He stressed that to desert MA63 is to abandon the Federation of Malaysia.
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“It is tantamount to breaking the bonds that bind and unite the Malayan Federation, North Borneo, and Sarawak in 1963. Thereby, returning us to our original status and restarting a new search again for our respective state identity.
“Is that what Malaysians want? Be careful in what we expound in our search for our true nation-building. Take full caution when uttering thoughtless suggestions that will weaken what our forefathers and all of us have achieved in nation-building.
“We must build for strength, peace and solidarity. We must avoid playing with semantics and politics,” warned Maximus.
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Vice President Sim Fui said the proposal for a new Malaysia Agreement is an attempt by politicians to escape responsibility for their failure to restore Sabah’s rights and shows a complete disregard for the contribution and sacrifice made by Sabah’s forefathers.
He said modern politicians shouldn’t discount or reject the MA63 for their own political advantage because it was a document created by our late leaders to strengthen Sabahans’ rights following the foundation of Malaysia.
He said lawmakers who care about Sabahans have been working hard for years to reinstate the rights due to Sabah as outlined in the MA63.
“Some MPs, anxious to appease their federal bosses, supported the new Malaysia Agreement in order to conceal their incompetence.
“In my opinion, Sabahans are the best qualified to judge whether Sabah received the proper attention from the Federal Government while Barisan Nasional (BN) was in power.
“We have always been considered a fixed deposit state by BN. When an election is approaching, they would offer charming promises before vanishing after the vote is counted.”
Instead of betraying Sabahans once more to appease their masters, Sim suggested that the ruling parties recognise their failure to restore Sabah’s rights.
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