“It was not so easy at the time to change the state constitution because Islam was already Malaysia’s official religion.
“To reverse it would have been suicidal because it would not be in line with the Federal Constitution,” Ongkili told reporters after attending a PBS luncheon here today.
Former chief minister, the late Datu Mustapha Harun, changed the state constitution to make Islam the official religion of Sabah, which previously had no official religion.
Ongkili said Sarawak’s case was different because their government never changed its state constitution to incorporate an official religion.
He said Pandikar’s attempt to implicate PBS for its alleged “failure” in this regard was in bad taste because he (Pandikar) knew it could not have been done at the time.
“Pandikar was the speaker of the Sabah assembly at the time and he knew what happened. He knew it was easier said than done.
“We need to ask him why he wanted to mention that specific issue on religion when there are so many other things we can talk about,” he said.
Pandikar was the Sabah assembly speaker between 1986 and 1988 during the PBS administration. He made the remark about Sabah’s official religion last Sunday during his talk at a forum on the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) and the 20 Points which set out the terms for Sabah’s agreement to join in forming Malaysia.
Pandikar questioned why, despite having a two-thirds majority in the assembly, did PBS choose to retain Islam as Sabah’s official religion when they had the chance to change it.
He also attacked critics who complained of the federal government depriving Sabah of some of its rights under MA63, and accused them of inciting anger and hatred among the people of Sabah.
When he was told off by several opposition leaders, he challenged them to come clean on whether Islam would no longer be the official religion of Sabah if Barisan Nasional (BN) was toppled.
Ongkili reminded Pandikar however that decisions on the MA63 issue could not be accomplished easily.
In order to understand it, he said one must revisit the background and history of the agreement and hold dialogues with all the signatories.
“Pandikar must understand the reason behind everything, behind every amendment. He cannot just talk like the opposition and criticise. Can you amend something to make it out of line with the Federal Constitution?” he asked.
He also advised all parties to refrain from criticising an issue without understanding it clearly first.
He said under the current leadership, it was possible to talk about Sabah’s rights but it was difficult to do so during the era of former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
“We can talk now under Prime Minister Najib Razak. If it was Mahathir, we would all be put under the ISA (Internal Security Act). In fact, I was actually one of the victims (detained under the ISA) because of this,” he said.
Nevertheless, he said, PBS would continue to fight for Sabah’s rights as there were things that needed to be corrected.
However, any attempt to do these must be done in accordance with the law, he said.
MA63: Pandikar challenges Sabah opposition to prove sincerity