Michael Tiang, head of the Sarawak United Peoples’ Party youth wing, said that if federal leaders were sincere about restoring equal partner status to Sabah and Sarawak, then there must be a constitutional amendment that reflects the states’ entitlement to allocations in the federal budget.

“We want it to be constitutional. Putrajaya has to give Sabah and Sarawak what they deserve in terms of allocations.

“We don’t want to be at the finance minister’s mercy every year. We don’t want it (federal budget allocations) to be given like an act of charity,” he told FMT.

Tiang urged federal leaders to explain the aspects of “equal partner status” that it wanted to restore to Sabah and Sarawak.

“What aspects of equal partner status are we talking about? Will parliamentary seats for Sabah and Sarawak be divided fairly? Is Putrajaya going to allocate fairer development expenditures to both states?”

He said a steering committee that is re-examining the Malaysia Agreement 1963 had never discussed how Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution should be amended.

In April, the federal government failed to secure a two-thirds majority in the Dewan Rakyat for an amendment to the article.

Only 138 MPs of the 221 in the house at the time voted and of the 59 who abstained, 18 were from Gabungan Parti Sarawak, the state ruling party.

On Wednesday, de facto law minister Liew Vui Keong said a new bill was expected to be tabled next year to restore the status of Sabah and Sarawak as equal partners with Malaya in the formation of Malaysia.