Najib: We’ll restore rights according to MA63

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Najib Razak today said that the rights accorded to Sabah and Sarawak under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) will be restored.

He was referring to the conditions by which the Federation of Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore had formed Malaysia in 1963. (Singapore left Malaysia in 1965 over political and economic differences.)

“If there are any violations, we will restore it back to the people of Sabah,” Najib, who is also Umno president, said in addressing the Sabah Umno delegates in his winding-up speech on the last day of the party’s general assembly this evening.

He also said unlike before, the government of the day was open to talks on the agreement.

“Previously, when the issue of MA63 was brought up, one could be nabbed under the ISA,” he said, referring to the draconian Internal Security Act, which Najib repealed in 2011.

In the 1990s, some Sabah politicians, including Maximus Ongkili and Jeffrey Kitingan, were detained under the ISA for bringing up the MA63 issue.

The issue of MA63 recently cropped up again after Dewan Rakyat speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia stirred controversy by stating that there was no reason to claim that Sabah and Sarawak had “equal status with Malaya”.

Instead, the Kota Belud native said all 13 states and three federal territories were equal in Malaysia.

Pandikar also rubbished claims by certain quarters that Sabah’s MA63 rights were not fully executed, calling it mere political rhetoric by the opposition to incite anger and hatred among the people of Sabah.

His views led to criticisms from various quarters, with Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg openly disagreeing with Pandikar.

On Sept 16, Malaysia Day, Najib had reassured the people of Sabah and Sarawak that the two states would be accorded their rights as enshrined in MA63. -FMT