KUCHING: Democratic Action Party (DAP) veteran Lim Kit Siang has agreed with Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar that the proposal to have a new Malaysia Agreement is nonsense.
The Iskandar Puteri MP went on to say that the existing Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), was a commitment that had been agreed upon by all quarters for the formation of the Federation of Malaysia.
“I also agree with Wan Junaidi that what is being demanded by Sabah and Sarawak now is not to renegotiate the existing agreement but the fulfilment of matters that have already been agreed upon,” he said in a statement on Yesterday (July 10).
Earlier, it was reported that Barisan Nasional (BN) deputy chairman Mohamad Hasan had suggested a new Malaysia Agreement as a more concrete way forward in realising Sabah’s rights and demands instead of the 1963 agreement that led to the formation of Malaysia.
Lim said that Malaysia will mark its 60th anniversary since its formation in 1963, hence he called for an overall review of Federal-State relations in Malaysia to effect greater decentralisation and confer greater autonomy from Putrajaya.
“This is not only to Sabah and Sarawak as intended by MA63, but to all states in Peninsular Malaysia as is the international trend,” he said.
He added that there is no doubt that in the last six decades of Malaysian nation-building, there had been too much concentration of power at two levels.
“Firstly, in the hands of the executive and ultimately the Prime Minister at the expense of the other two branches of government, the Legislature and the Judiciary.
“And secondly, in the hands of the Federal Government at the expense of the state governments,” he said.
He stressed that the two trends must be reversed and proper equilibrium established.
On July 9, Wan Junaidi described the proposal to have a new Malaysia Agreement, as calling for a dissolution of Malaysia.
He said the idea was nonsense and urged those who called for a new Malaysia Agreement to be logical instead.
