Sabahans want No 1 post and MA63, not DPM position - Azis

 

Sabahans want their rights which were promised to them under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) and not "election sweeteners" such as a deputy prime minister position, said Warisan information chief Mohd Azis Jamman.

Azis claimed that Warisan president Shafie Apdal had in the past turned down the deputy prime minister position, allegedly offered by Muhyiddin Yassin and Ismail Sabri Yaakob when they were the prime minister.

"What the people of Sabah and Sarawak want is the full implementation of MA63 which was agreed upon when Sabah, Sarawak and Malaya agreed to form Malaysia.

"We don't want to see more committees to negotiate the matter endlessly or listening to excuses from the federal government," he said in a statement today.

Political parties and activists from Sabah and Sarawak have been pursuing greater devolution of powers and channelling of national resources to the two territories.

In recent years, the conversation on MA63 has also included limiting Peninsular Malaysia to just 65 percent of the total seats in the Dewan Rakyat to reflect the arrangement at the time when Malaysia was formed.

‘DPM offer an insult’

Both BN and Pakatan Harapan have promised to make history by appointing someone from Sabah and Sarawak as deputy prime minister should they win the general election.

Azis (above) said these suggestions were an insult to the Borneo territories because these coalitions were implying that Sabahans and Sarawakians are not qualified to be the prime minister.

"Does it mean only people from Malaya can be No 1? What's the point of Sabah, Sarawak and Malaya becoming equal partners in the Malaysian Federation if the prime minister's position is exclusive to those from Malaya?" he asked.

The incumbent Sepanggar MP also urged voters to consider that both BN and Harapan have broken their promises to Sabah before.

BN chief Ahmad Zahid Hamidi

He said Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had in January 2020 during the Kimanis by-election promised Sabah and Sarawak that the MA63 will be fully implemented when BN is back in power.

Similarly, former DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng had promised Sabah more resources from the federal government, Azis added.

"However, the promises remain just that," he said. - Mkini