He said Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin would make an official announcement regarding the committee’s formation in the near future.
“Yesterday, during the federal Cabinet meeting, the ministry tabled a working paper regarding the establishment of a committee and its main role is to study how we can move forward in relation to Sabah and Sarawak’s rights based on the Federal Constitution, MA63 and Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) report,” he said.
Last December, it was reported that 17 out of 21 matters tabled by the Sabah and Sarawak governments at a Cabinet special committee meeting to review the implementation of MA63 had been jointly approved with some already in the process of implementation.
The outstanding issues include oil royalties, oil minerals and oil fields, the Territorial Sea Act 2012 and the states’ rights over the continental shelf.
Wan Junaidi said: “Whatever (agreement) that has been achieved prior to this is already in place but now (our aim) is the way forward.”
He said the proposal to amend Article 112D and Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution to return the status of Sabah and Sarawak as equal partners of Peninsular Malaysia would also be part of the committee’s study.
“A lot of people had claimed that the amendment of Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution to restore the original wording as it was in the Constitution pursuant to the MA63 would make Sabah and Sarawak as equal partners with the peninsula but is it true? This will be part of the committee’s study.
“Personally, I think that there are many other critical issues (worth discussing) that can benefit Sabah and Sarawak instead of focusing solely on the proposal to amend Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution,” he said, adding that the proposal to amend the Article would not bring any financial benefit to both states.
What would bring in revenue to Sabah and Sarawak were the states’ rights under Article 112D of the Federal Constitution, he said, which among others include oil and gas as well as state resources.
“The state government is more focused on matters that could bring revenue to the state based on the Federal Constitution and MA63.”