Dismissing claims made by Sabah and Sarawak affairs minister Maximus Ongkili earlier in the morning, Leiking (Warisan-Penampang) said only the minutes of meetings of the MA63 talks recorded during the PH-Warisan administration were confidential.
“Let’s get the facts right here. The report by the special MA63 committee was never classified as a secret by the PH-Warisan Cabinet,” he told the Dewan Rakyat when debating the 12th Malaysia Plan today.
“Let’s no longer hide it (the report) under the OSA.
“Just to remind the minister, my friend from Kota Marudu (Ongkili), only the minutes of the Cabinet meetings were a secret, not the MA63 report itself.
“If it is true that subsequent to that, the report was classified as secret, then declassify it once and for all, for all Malaysians to know.”
Earlier today, Ongkili told the Dewan Rakyat that all the files concerning talks over MA63 were actually classified under the OSA by PH-Warisan when it was in power.
The Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) president said that when he took over the task of managing matters related to MA63, all the files given to him were “stamped as secret” by the previous PH-Warisan administration.
“This was over the decision after the talks between the Sabah and Sarawak governments and the federal government.
“However, we can produce a report or give a briefing to the Sabah and Sarawak MPs (on the talks) if there is a need,” Ongkili said.
Leiking, meanwhile, pointed out that the late Liew Vui Keong, who was the former de facto law minister during the PH-Warisan administration, had informed his Cabinet colleagues and also mentioned during MA63 meetings that the report must be tabled in Parliament.
“This is for the parliamentarians to debate and for all Malaysians to know what was agreed on as well as the proposals made,” the Warisan deputy president said.
Meanwhile, DAP’s Kota Kinabalu MP Chan Foong Hin told FMT that for Ongkili to accuse PH-Warisan of classifying the MA63 report showed that the two governments that followed had failed to show any real progress or sincerity in resolving the matter.
“The difference then and now is that the PH-Warisan government was very transparent over the areas discussed and the committees that were formed.
“Under the current government, this is not the case. We don’t know what’s going on now,” he said.
He added that the Sabah PH leadership had also recently issued a joint statement to urge the current government to show transparency over any ongoing discussions, among others.