Veni, vidi, vici. This is the Latin phrase popularly attributed to Julius Caesar in reference to the Battle of Zela. What it means is: I came, I saw, I conquered.
Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad was in Sabah for Malaysia Day on Sept 16 after a prolonged absence from the state.
The Sabah government is now under Warisan and no longer under Barisan Nasional which was previously headed by Mahathir himself.
No doubt, Mahathir did not come to conquer Sabah. He was in the state for a reason. Besides gracing the occasion, his presence gave Sabahans an opportunity to hear what he had to say.
It also gave Warisan president and Chief Minister Shafie Apdal an image boost as the party continues to lay claim to having direct access to the leader of our nation. The prime minister’s presence in Sabah was seen as an endorsement of Warisan, its followers would most likely claim, as a court battle looms between Shafie and former chief minister Musa Aman over who actually is the rightful CM.
But as I have said, Mahathir did not come to conquer Sabah. It was conquered by the Malaya-based Barisan Nasional in 1994 when PBS lost its hold over the state.
What is of concern to me and many others was what Mahathir said at a press conference later regarding the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
To recap, Mahathir said while the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration can move a new bill in Parliament that will grant Sabah and Sarawak equal status as partners in Malaysia – as opposed to being one of the 13 states – this would depend very much on how the opposition parliamentarians vote.
At the moment, the PH government does not have the two-thirds majority to push this bill through.
Nurul Izzah Anwar, the Permatang Pauh MP, said exactly the same thing in Labuan on Sept 19.
Both expressed the fear that the opposition MPs would not support the bill.
In the meantime, federal law minister Liew Vui Keong, a Sabahan, decided to put the cart before the horse by saying in a press statement reported in local dailies that “Mahathir recently made it clear about restoring Sabah and Sarawak’s equal partner status”.
Did he? I don’t see it that way. Neither do others. What Mahathir said was that it will depend on how the opposition votes in Parliament.
There is a very simple way of finding out whether the bill will receive support from opposition MPs: just table it. Then, Sabahans and Sarawakians will find out two things.
The first is whether the PH government is only being rhetorical when it comes to the MA63 issue. The second is who among the Sabah and Sarawak MPs dare to vote against the bill.
My suggestion to the powers that be? Go ahead and table it or forever hold your peace.
Clement Stanley is an FMT reader.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.