Sabah DAP secretary Chan Foong Hin said the mainstream thinking of Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders that Sabah and Sarawak were just like any other states in Malaysia was clearly reflected in Pandikar’s public lecture on MA63 last weekend.
Chan, who is also Sri Tanjong assemblyman, said one of Pandikar’s key points on MA63 was that Sabah and Sarawak were never two separate nations, but only British colonies prior to the formation of Malaysia.
Chan said Pandikar also contended that Sabah had never been downgraded to being a state in Malaysia from its position as one of three equal partners along with Sarawak and Malaya.
Chan said the speaker had also described claims by certain quarters that Sabah’s rights were not fully executed under MA63 as empty political rhetoric, aimed at inciting anger and hatred among the people in Sabah.
“First and foremost, even if Sabah and Sarawak were not nations prior to the formation of Malaysia, both territories were the signatories to MA63.
“We were the founding members of this federation, and not just one of the states in the federation. Without Sabah and Sarawak, there is no Malaysia,” he said in a statement.
The 1976 amendment to Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution has significant implications on the status of Sabah and Sarawak, Chan added.
Changes in the wordings from three categories of states in Malaysia (states of Malaya, Borneo states, and Singapore) to one catch-all sentence (Malaysia consists of the states with their respective names), reflected “no difference” among all the states.
Chan said the historical fact that Sabah and Sarawak were founding partners of the federation had been deleted from the memory of the ruling party’s leaders.
“Sabah and Sarawak were never ‘just two of the states’ in the federation,” he said.
“We also have special provisions in immigration control, education, religious matters, protection of natives and financial powers.
“How could Pandikar say we have no special positions and privileges over other Malayan states?”
Chan said he wondered why Pandikar, being a leader from Sabah, chose to play an unpopular role in defending all the indefensible wrongdoings by the Barisan Nasional (BN) federal government.
On the question of whether Sabah and Sarawak were equal partners, Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) deputy president Darell Leiking said this had been clearly affirmed before 1976, when the composition of the federation was clearly set out in the pre-amended Federal Constitution.
There, Sabah and Sarawak were defined as Bornean states that made up the federation, together with Malaya, which had its own states.
Leiking, who is also Penampang MP, said Pandikar had conveniently left out in his talk why there had been complaints by Sabah’s past leaders on the matter.
Chairman of Sabah’s Rights Review Committee, Teo Chee Kang, had submitted a memorandum on Sabah’s rights to Prime Minister Najib Razak in May.
“So, how come Pandikar is now trying to say that the claims on Sabah’s rights are mere political rhetoric?” Leiking asked.
Parti Cinta Sabah president Wilfred Bumburing meanwhile said it was not empty rhetoric from the opposition parties, as claimed by Pandikar.
He said many stakeholders in Sabah and Sarawak had openly voiced their opinion and were united in their quest to have MA63 honoured, respected and implemented.
“On the other hand, it is Pandikar’s rhetoric that is actually empty as he was talking to an almost empty hall during his public dialogue.”
Bumburing, who is also Tamparuli assemblyman, said state government leaders agreed with the opposition’s stand.
He said Pandikar’s views had belittled members of the Sarawak state assembly, which recently passed a unanimous motion in the state assembly on the same issue.
He said the best way to discuss the issue was to allow a similar motion to be tabled and debated in the coming Sabah state assembly sitting.
“Let the people be informed whether the state assembly and the Sabah government agree with Pandikar or otherwise,” he said.