Sabah, Sarawak leaders welcome govt-Harapan deal

Leaders from Sabah and Sarawak welcomed the memorandum of understanding (MOU) on bipartisan cooperation inked by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob's government and Pakatan Harapan.

Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) secretary-general Alexander Nanta Linggi felt that the deal could reduce politicking between the two big blocs in Parliament.

"I am happy about it. It should be considered as a win-win achievement for both sides and therefore good for the people and the country.

”Hopefully the government can now, together with Harapan, concentrate on fighting Covid-19 as well as ensuring the successful recovery of our economy, ultimately relieving the burden of all Malaysians and enabling all sectors of the economy to be revived and revitalised.

"The promise of reducing petty politicking between the two big blocs in Parliament as well as the hope of no more frivolous attempts to unseat the prime minister and the government will give the rakyat peace of mind to live through this challenging period," he said in a statement to Malaysiakini.

The Kapit MP praised both sides for taking the step towards parliamentary reforms. 

"This is a meaningful step, although there may be much more to be achieved," he added. 

PBS president Maximus Ongkili

In a separate statement, Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) president Maximus Ongkili said the bipartisan cooperation, which was first offered by former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin, was three weeks late and had basically expired.

"As PBS president, I was also involved in extending invitations to the Sabah DAP, PKR, and Warisan MPs to participate in the transformation partnership, but they rejected it," he said.

However, the former minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah and Sarawak affairs) said that although the opposition’s decision came with a three-week delay, it was better late than never.

“As the PBS president, I welcome the willingness of the Harapan parties to accept those principles agreed in the MOU, especially matters of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), anti-hopping law, reduction of prime minister's term to 10 years, and lowering of voting age to 18," he added. 

Looking forward to working with Harapan 

Ongkili, however, stated that PBS rejected automatic registration for now.

“We (PBS) are not in favour of automatic registration until the Sabah electoral roll is cleansed from the infiltration of undocumented migrants. 

“We look forward to working meaningfully with the Harapan parties, especially with regard to ongoing MA63 matters which were not touched at all by the Harapan team when they were in power," he said.

Ongkili pointed out that Harapan also did not address issues related to undocumented migrants in Sabah, the unresolved documentation of the dubious status of foreigners such as IMM13, Kad Burung-Burung, and Sijil Bancian, as well as poverty and income inequality confronting rural Sabah. 

"Our stand remains that PBS will always be fundamentally different from the opposition in terms of ideals, political struggle, and multi-ethnic make-up," he added. 

The deal - dubbed the MOU on Transformation and Political Stability - covers governance transformation, parliamentary reforms, judicial independence, MA63 and the formation of a steering committee.

Under the deal, Harapan will not obstruct the government on critical votes in Parliament that could have an implication on its survival, such as the budget.

In exchange, the government will implement a number of policies and reforms sought by the opposition.

There are fixed timelines and the implementation will be overseen by a bipartisan steering committee.

They include an RM45 billion fiscal injection for the Covid-19 battle, parliamentary reforms, anti-hopping law, implementation of Undi18 and automatic voter registration as well as a term limit for the prime minister. - Mkini