LAW MINISTER LIEW THROWS CARROT TO SABAH, S’WAK MPs – BUT WILL MAHATHIR KEEP PAKATAN’S PROMISE: ‘TWO-THIRDS MAJORITY WILL RESTORE EQUAL STATUS FOR SABAH & SARAWAK’

KOTA KINABALU – De facto law minister Liew Vui Keong is confident that recent developments in the country’s political landscape will enable the government to obtain a two-thirds majority to amend the Federal Constitution in order to restore the status of Sabah and Sarawak as equal partners in Malaysia.

The Batu Sapi MP said Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had chaired the first meeting of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) steering committee on the rights of Sabah and Sarawak on Monday.

He said the most important discussion among the issues deliberated was the amendment of Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution, which requires a two-thirds majority from Parliament.

“To get a two-thirds majority, we need 148 seats out of the 222 seats in Parliament.

“This is within our reach as the composition in the Dewan Rakyat has dramatically changed over the last few days with the crossover of MPs from the opposition to the government, or at least some of them have said they are friendly to the Pakatan Harapan-led government.

“I am confident that both the MPs and senators will fully support the constitutional amendments to Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution to return the equal status of Sabah and Sarawak to that of the Federation of Malaya,” Liew said in a statement released from Putrajaya.

He said as of Dec 17, the composition of the Dewan Rakyat comprised 129 Pakatan Harapan MPs (and their allies), with 16 from PPBM, 42 from DAP, 50 from PKR, 11 from Amanah, nine from Warisan and one from Upko.

Liew said there are a total of 13 independent MPs at the moment.

Currently, the opposition has 58 MPs, with 37 from Umno, one from MIC, two from MCA and 18 from PAS, he added.

Liew said Gabungan Parti Sarawak, which is “friendly” towards Pakatan, has 19 MPs, with three from PRS, one from SUPP, two from PDP and 13 from PBB. PBS, PBRS and STAR in Sabah have one MP each.

De facto law minister Liew Vui Keong.

“As for the Dewan Negara, there are now 69 senators out of the total 70, with the admission of one senator today from the Negeri Sembilan state legislative assembly,” Liew said.

Meanwhile, Liew also confirmed the appointment of Deputy Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Chong Chieng Jen as a member of the Special Cabinet Committee for the implementation of MA63.

He also announced the approval for the appointment of other additional members from Sabah and Sarawak as members of the committee (steering committee level).

These are Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Wilfred Madius Tangau; Sarawak Speaker Gerawat Gala, Sarawak’s Assistant Law, State-Federal Relations and Project Monitoring Minister Sharifah Hasidah Sayedd Aman; and Sabah’s former state attorney-general Stephen Foo Kiat Shin.

– FMT