“We will monitor the development of the issues raised (regarding the agreement) and we will share it with the public to ensure politicians do not ‘dramatise’ it (to woo voters),” said the Sabah and Sarawak affairs minister.

Speaking on Astro Awani’s Agenda Awani programme tonight, Armizan said the committee would look into areas that were still under negotiation and those that had been implemented.

He said this in response to a question on the constant politicisation of MA63, especially during the run-up to an election where Sabah politicians would promise that they would champion the items in the agreement.

Armizan, who is the Papar MP, said the changes at the federal level and Sabah itself were a “blessing in disguise” as they resulted in many experienced politicians working on the items in the agreement at both the state and national administrative levels.

The technical committee was formed last year by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and is being led by the second deputy prime minister Fadillah Yusof.

Getting the civil service to understand MA63

The minister also said that it was important to ensure that civil servants and policymakers understood the actual context of MA63 so that they would not treat it as a mere East Malaysian sentiment, but view it as a national agenda since the agreement led to the formation of Malaysia.

“It is not just about ‘what more Sabah and Sarawak wants’,” he said.

“We want a prosperous Malaysia that can only be achieved when all of its territories prosper.”

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