Its youth chief, Felix Joseph Saang, said Ongkili’s statement was shocking for Sabahans, adding that he should have supported the MPs who had only wanted to claim what was due to Sabah and Sarawak.

“Ongkili should be in tune with the sentiments of Sabahans instead of taking the ‘bow down to Putrajaya’ approach,” he said in a statement today.

“We are not anti-Putrajaya but we only want the federal government to give equal treatment, especially in terms of the distribution of development allocations and Sabah’s rights as enshrined in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).”

Saang said the statements by the MPs were meant to show “their firmness in taking what rightfully belongs to Sabah and Sarawak”.

Ongkili, who is the Sabah and Sarawak affairs minister, recently warned MPs from the two states not to “fan the fire” unnecessarily, and instead focus on ensuring that the country continued to function effectively.

This came after Sepanggar MP Azis Jamman raised the spectre of secession last week over what he called “the discriminatory treatment” given to the two states by Putrajaya.

Sabah deputy chief minister Jeffrey Kitingan also warned Putrajaya last week against mistreating Sabah and Sarawak, which he labelled as Malaysia’s “golden geese”.

The online community then labelled Ongkili as “pro-Putrajaya” and “traitor” following his reminder to the MPs not to politicise Sabah and Sarawak development issues to the extent of “jeopardising the nation’s peace”.

Saang questioned today whether fighting for state rights was now considered wrong.

“Why can’t Putrajaya be criticised? Since when is fighting for Sabah’s rights labelled seditious? The minister’s statement is absurd and sad for the people of Sabah.

“He is a minister from Sabah but doesn’t he know that the state is far behind in so many aspects of development?” he said.