No reason to abandon MA63, Baru points out

Baru Bian

KUCHING (July 12): There is no reason to abandon the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) and formulate a new agreement just because the “Malayan government” is finding it disadvantageous to fulfil their obligations, said Selangau MP Baru Bian.

He said a new Malaysian Agreement as suggested by Barisan Nasional (BN) deputy chairman Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan is “unnecessary and without basis”.

“There is an existing agreement, some of the terms of which the Malayan government has not been able or willing to honour over the last 59 years.

“Just because they are finding it disadvantageous for them to fulfil their obligations under MA63 is no reason for us to abandon it and formulate a new Malaysia Agreement.

“The terms of the MA63 were drawn up after thoughtful deliberations and input by our forefathers, and we should not discard it so easily,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Baru, who is also Ba Kelalan assemblyman, believes there cannot be another Malaysia Agreement as the terms of MA63 have already been incorporated into the Federal Constitution, which is the supreme law of the Federation.

“By suggesting a new MA, is Mohamad Hasan suggesting that the existing MA be torn up? What about the provisions which had been written into the Constitution?

“We must treat the Federal Constitution with due respect as it is the foundation document from which all our rights, privileges and obligations derive. It is just a question of implementation of the provisions, which has been less than satisfactory ever since the inception of Malaysia, particularly where the interests of Sarawak and Sabah are concerned,” he said.

Baru pointed out that the amendment of the Federal Constitution last year effectively constitutionalised MA63 and the Inter-Governmental Committee Report, according to constitutional law expert Emeritus Prof Datuk Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi.

“The rights of the Borneo States are set out in these documents and what we want is for these to be respected and for us to be given what has been promised to us. The Cabinet Special Committee under the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government had resolved 17 out of 21 matters and it is reported that discussion is continuing on the other four matters.

“For a start, the federal government should implement what had been agreed upon, and resolve the outstanding matters without delay,” he asserted.

Baru said he was aware that certain parties support the idea of a new Malaysia Agreement with the intention to revert to status of independent states/countries before the formation of Malaysia, and perhaps remaining that way.

However, he said the question of cessation is not that straightforward, and is a minefield to negotiate, unless mutually agreed upon between the federal and state governments.

“For now, we should push ahead with our demands under the MA63 so that we have the rights and privileges honoured as our forefathers had wanted.

“Particularly, as pointed out by Prof Shad, our rights on religion, immigration, education, citizenship, financial provisions, judiciary and the special position of indigenous peoples which have been partly overlooked or possibly breached since the formation of Malaysia,” he said.

from Borneo Post Online https://bit.ly/3uBrr8s
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