Constitutional amendments passed, Sabah and Sarawak no longer 'states'

 

PARLIAMENT | The bill seeking to make constitutional amendments in relation to the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) has successfully received a two-thirds majority and passed through the final stage in the Dewan Rakyat today.

It received 199 votes in favour of the bill, with no MPs voting against it. The remaining 21 were absent.

The bill was tabled for its second reading in the Dewan Rakyat earlier today by de facto Law Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar and sought to make four amendments to the Federal Constitution.

The first is to redefine the meaning of the federation in the constitution, from one centred on Malaya's independence in 1957, to include the MA63 and East Malaysia's joining of the federation.

The second will restore Article 1(2) to create a clear distinction that the federation consists of two blocs, namely the peninsular states hereby reverted to "Tanah Melayu" (Malaya); and the Borneo states that are Sabah and Sarawak.

The third amendment is to officially enshrine Sept 16 as Malaysia Day in the Federal Constitution.

The fourth amendment is to tweak Article 161A to remove definitions of 'native' Sarawakians and grant Sarawak the right to determine who is a native of the state.

The bill was passed in the policy stage after the debates without much fanfare and subsequently, no parliamentarians were interested in debating in the committee stage.

Following that, the bill entered into a division vote for its third reading immediately and was successfully passed with a two-thirds majority.

The amendments will now have to be tabled and passed in the Dewan Negara before they can be gazetted.

It was widely expected for the bill to be able to receive the two-thirds support needed to pass the changes to the Federal Constitution, as it is part of the memorandum of understanding between Putrajaya and Pakatan Harapan.

Earlier, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim (Pakatan Harapan-Port Dickson) had said the successful passing of the MA63-related amendments in this parliamentary sitting was one of their conditions to maintain the memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the government.

The push for these amendments coincides with the Sarawak election, where polling is scheduled for this coming Saturday. - Mkini