The GPS government in Sarawak was playing political games when it failed to support crucial MA63 amendments last April, said ex-minister Liew Vui Keong, who added that he expects Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg to end up supporting the same amendments he resisted.
Liew who was Minister in the Prime Minister's Department for Legal and Parliamentary Affairs under the Pakatan Harapan administration was talking to University of Tasmania professor James Chin about the failure to amend Article 1.2 of the Federal Constitution in April 2019 to "restore" Sabah and Sarawak's status as "equal partners" with Malaya by restoring Article 1(2) to its original form in 1963.
Liew told Chin, an expert on governance issues in South-East Asia, that he believed most issues had been ironed out but Sarawak leaders decided to “make life difficult as part of a political game.”
“That is a lot of rubbish,” said Liew when asked by Chin if he had not been cooperative with the Sarawak leadership.
“On April 9, 2019, we brought the matter to the Dewan Rakyat. On April 8, it seemed I had resolved everything with them, but at 6pm, (current Works Minister) Fadillah Yusof came and threw me a letter saying this is from GPS, and the letter said we must add the words “pursuant to the agreement of Malaysia 1963.”
Liew, who is Batu Sapi MP, said he consulted the then federal attorney-general Tommy Thomas who advised the government that the six words need not be in the amendment and could be in prime minister’s speech as a policy.
Liew said he called the Sarawak chief minister to explain.
“Abang Jo said that he wanted this in because his father (first Sarawak governor Abang Openg) had signed the Malaysia Agreement in 1963 and he wanted it to be included. Abang Jo kept saying ‘my father this, my father that’.”
“I asked why not include it in the constitution then? Why not during amendments in 1974? To say that I refused in a blatant lie. They were the ones who made life difficult by saying I must include this,” said Liew.
On April 9, the Harapan government fell just 10 votes shy of the two-thirds requirement to pass the constitutional amendment bill.
“Now that GPS is in the federal government, I read that Abang Jo said he’s okay with the wording,” claimed Liew who said that his political opponents were just basically making life difficult and finding fault.
Liew said that most issues including that of special grants were actually agreed to by then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and the chief ministers of Sabah (Shafie Apdal) and Sarawak whom he referred to as the “three wise men.”
Liew has that out of 21 issues, only four remained contentious. He explained that there were three committees during his time as minister and that the prime minister, Sabah and Sarawak chief ministers, attorneys-general of Sabah and Sarawak as well as the federal attorney-general and a number of relevant ministers and high-ranking officials were involved.
“Eventually we completed a report of a few hundred pages. The four issues are to be solved by the three wise men, the PM and the two CMs.
“They were to decide on the special sum of money to be given to the states. In January the amount was agreed upon and the PM was supposed to announce it in February but that didn’t happen.
“Territories and sea boundaries were also contentious. Sarawak wanted boundaries redrawn. Why do you think they wanted it redrawn? It’s all because of the oil,” said Liew who added that boundary disputes were not just about Sabah, Sarawak and Malaya but also involved Brunei and Indonesia.
“There was also the decentralisation of education, health and even (a policy on) electricity. Now everything has been changed with the new government which has set up a new portfolio for Sabah and Sarawak under Maximus Ongkili, so I don’t know what that is all about,” he added.
Liew said he hoped the groundwork laid during his time does not go to waste.
“For the three committees, a couple of millions were spent in 12 months as there were paid staff. Now the new government has come in, everything is destroyed.
“I had my agenda of getting amendment 1(2) done so we were on equal footing first, then talk about the rest. During the block voting, we saw GPS busy discussing with PAS and Umno and in the end, they decided to abstain. Why did they abstain? They threw away their vote," pointed out Liew.
Liew said that GPS had decided with PAS and Umno to deny their own equality as part of a political game.
“Unfortunately now they can see it. When they see issues of the movement control order and state rights, now they can see it,” said Liew who said that he hoped the new government shared the same appetite for restoring the status of Sabah and Sarawak that he did.
“Whether you like it or not, I come from the Borneo states, I have the passion. At the end of the day, the new minister in charge of law and parliamentary affairs (Takiyuddin Hassan) is from PAS, you ask him now.
“If you look back, from the 1960s till now, there are regional imbalances. We are not equal. We must recognise that we are part of Malaysia and continue to work together but we must be equal to move forward as one,” said Liew. - Mkini
GPS has lost their bearings. Next state election I hope sarawakians make the extra mile to vote them out so that GPS will indeed become a misfunctional gps equipment of no relevance any longer.
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