In a statement, Reform President Lina Soo said there was no necessity for further discussion as “all the terms, conditions, safeguards and assurances had already been set in concrete” by the Inter-Governmental Committee Report (IGC) of Feb 27, 1963. The Malaysia Agreement was signed five months later.
She said the Malaysia Agreement and IGC Report had already outlined the terms, safeguards and conditions for Sarawak to form the Federation of Malaysia with Malaya, Sabah and Singapore.
“The Malaysia Agreement was entered into as an international treaty by five nations – United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Federation of Malaya, Sarawak, Sabah and Singapore to form the political union of the Federation of Malaysia,” Soo said.
“This international treaty cannot be amended or varied, and any further discussion would necessitate all five governments to go back to the negotiating table to resolve or terminate the treaty, or come up with a new treaty,” she said.
On Saturday, Najib said he was open to discussions about the rights of Sabah and Sarawak under the Malaysia Agreement, but would not entertain any secession move.
“However you feel, don’t talk about secession. No, no, no,” he told the United Pasok Momogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko) convention at Penampang, near Kota Kinabalu.
Najib added that he had no intention to deprive both states of their rights and that he was also willing to hear any grouses or concerns if any parts of the Malaysia Agreement had been misinterpreted.
“Hence, there is no necessity for the Sarawak government to enter into further discussion or renegotiation with the Federal Government, except to ask for MA63 compliance with immediate effect.
“If this is not carried out, then it is sheer hypocrisy and a charade to cover up the government’s failure to honour MA63 tantamount to a repudiation of the international treaty,” Soo said.
She further said that the perception that the Cobbold Commission Report needed to be referred to, was erroneous.
Soo, who has researched and written two books on the formation of Malaysia, “Sarawak Real Deal” and “Sarawak Chronicle”, based on the declassified colonial documents found at the British Archives, claimed that the Cobbold Commission Report was a sham and a farce, and should not be a reference point for the quest for Sarawak’s rights.
“Whether Singapore’s exit from the Federation of Malaysia in 1965 had abrogated the Malaysia Agreement, this is the constitutional question which only the signatory governments or the court can answer,” she said.