The Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah president said the amendment to the Sabah Constitution in 1974 to make Islam the official religion of the state was passed under Usno with the consent of the multiracial and multi-religious leaders in the cabinet at the time, including Christian leaders.
“Why, after 40 years, this issue is brought to the fore again? Religious issue is a sensitive issue. We in Sabah are multi-religious people. I don’t understand why a sensitive issue is being played up,” he said during a press conference after the adjournment of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly sitting.
Recently, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia had challenged Christian opposition leaders in Sabah to clarify if they would remove Islam as the official religion in Sabah if they were to win in the state election.
Pandikar had also asked why, during its nine-year reign between 1985 and 1994, Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) had not bothered to ‘correct’ the issue.
Lajim pointed out that while PBS had a two-third majority at the time, the then chief minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan, who is a Roman Catholic, never intended to amend the State Constitution to change the state’s official religion.
“I will defend PBS because at the time, I was in PBS and the minister in charge of Islamic affairs in the state. I can verify that PBS never had any intention to change the official religion. I would have objected too (if they had tried).
“Nevertheless, having Islam as the official religion never stopped our people from practising other religions, so why talk about this? Wouldn’t this cause discord among the people, not just Sabahans but also the whole of Malaysia?” he asked
In fact, he said, during his time in PBS, thanks to his suggestion to Pairin, every year between 1990 and 1994, the state government sponsored 300 Islamic religious leaders to perform their Haj.
Even then, he said no Christian had ever come to them to say they wanted to go on pilgrimage to Rome.
“There is an understanding between religions in the state that the Christians will not dispute. We are now living in harmony so why bring issues that could divide the people,” he said.
The Klias Assemblyman applauded the government for its openness on the question of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) despite the speaker rejecting two motions from Parti Warisan Sabah and Parti Cinta Sabah to discuss the issue.
The issue was debated at length on the second day of the sitting during the question and answer session with Special Tasks Minister Teo Chee Kang taking questions from opposition assemblymen on the issue and spending one hour to reply to additional questions from the bench.
“It seems that Teo agreed we are on the same page and we have the same objective – that is to reclaim our rights under the MA63. It seems that there is openness from the government already.
“And this is our core struggle; to get back the rights of Sabah as provided by the MA63,” he said.
Lajim also commended state ministers and other BN assemblymen. He said both sides this time were calmer and more tolerant of each other compared with previous sittings.
He pointed out that Chief Minister Musa Aman, particularly, was more composed and his calmness seemed to have been transmitted to other BN assemblymen.
“I think it is because they realised, the issues we raised are well-founded, for example on the question of minimum wage which some employers still fail to adhere to,” he said.
MA63: Pandikar challenges Sabah opposition to prove sincerity