Liew: Couldn't GPS be like Sabah MPs?

Law Minister Liew Vui Keong said today he could not understand why Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) MPs did not emulate their Sabahan counterparts in supporting attempts to amend Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution.

At a press conference in Putrajaya, Liew also revealed a list of 138 MPs who supported the amendment bill.

From the list, it is apparent that four out of six opposition MPs from Sabah voted in favour of the bill. [View full list below]

The four are Anifah Aman (Independent-Kimanis), Jeffrey Kitingan (GBS-Keningau), Maximus Ongkili (GBS-Kota Marudu) and Arthur Joseph Kurop (GBS-Pensiangan).

"These four Sabah MPs also supported. So I do not understand why Sarawak GPS did not want to support?" he asked.

For two other opposition MPs from Sabah, Bung Mokhtar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan) abstained from voting while Yamani Hafez Musa (Independent-Sipitang) was absent.

Had the 19 GPS MPs backed the bill, then the two-thirds majority requirement would have been met and the bill would have been passed.

From the list supplied by Liew, all 19 GPS MPs had attended Parliament on that day and explicitly stated that they had abstained from voting.

The list also revealed that 24 MPs were absent during the voting process, four of which were from Harapan.

The four are Maszlee Malik (Simpang Renggam), Shamsul Iskandar (Hang Tuah Jaya), Noor Amin Ahmad (Kangar) and Muslimin Yahaya (Sungai Besar).

Liew revealed that Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had instructed all Harapan MPs to attend the sitting in order to vote on this bill.

"This is a final order that has to be followed [...] No excuses even if (you're) sick," he said.

Asked if action would be taken against Harapan MPs who played truant, Liew said it was up to the party whips to take action.

"I understand that from the cabinet meeting, there were one or two MPs who applied (for leave) to attend meetings overseas," he said.

Liew criticised GPS for insisting that the words "pursuant to the Malaysia Agreement 1963" be included in the amendment bill before they supported it.

Liew said doing so would violate the provisions of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and complicate matters, adding that this was the advice he received from the attorney-general.

"We are quite disappointed with the action of GPS. They denied the rights of Sarawakians (to restore the positions of the Borneo states). They are not reasonable and not sensible.

"They are so stubborn and want these six words [...] but the AG's stand is that this is not doable and it is repetitive," he said.

Harapan's amendment bill was designed to restore Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution to its status immediately prior to the 1976 amendments.

Asked if the government would table the bill again, Liew gave a disheartened look and said there was no hurry now due to the opposition's stance.

"I do not see that coming because their other argument was that why were we in such a hurry (to table the bill).

"So we'll wait and see. They are asking us why were we in a hurry during the debate [...] so what's the hurry for the next tabling?" he asked. 

-Mkini