PETALING JAYA: Sabah will look to amend the state constitution to restore the title of the governor from the Yang di-Pertua Negeri to Yang di-Pertua Negara, said deputy chief minister Jeffrey Kitingan.
He said the amendment to the Federal Constitution passed by Parliament yesterday was only the first step towards restoring the true status of Sabah and Sarawak within the federation of Malaysia.
“This (the amendment) is significant because it elevates our status,” Kitingan, who is also the Keningau MP, said in a statement today.
“We need to instill in the people’s minds the true status of Sabah, and for that matter, Sarawak, within Malaysia.”
Kitingan said the amendment would enable the restoration of the original wording in the Proclamation of Malaysia, where the governor of Sabah was addressed as the Yang di-Pertua Negara.
He said another flaw in the Federal Constitution was Article 160(2), which defined the federation as established under the Federation of Malaya Agreement 1957.
“Sabah and Sarawak are not parties to this agreement. This interpretation must be corrected because whenever the term ‘federation’ is used in the Federal Constitution, it refers only to the states of Malaya,” he said.
Kitingan’s comments come after the Dewan Rakyat passed the constitutional amendments based on the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) yesterday.
The Bill seeks to, among others, list Sabah and Sarawak in the Federal Constitution as equal partners in the federation. - FMT
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