HISTORY was made when the Dewan Rakyat passed the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2021 related to the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), which received two-thirds majority support from Members of Parliament.
Speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun announced that the Bill was passed after it went through bloc voting, with 199 MPs voting to support the Bill.
“The Bill has secured two-thirds majority support as required by the Federal Constitution,” the Speaker said when he announced the passing of the Bill.
Earlier, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, who tabled the Bill, said the amendments were made to strengthen the position of Sabah and Sarawak in the Federation of Malaysia.
He added that the Bill proposed to amend Clause 2 of Article 1 of the Federal Constitution to state that the states of the Federation comprises:
(a) the states of Malaya, namely Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Melaka, Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Perlis, Penang, Selangor and Terengganu; and
(b) the Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak.
Other changes were introducing a new definition of “Malaysia Day” and changing the definition of “the Federation” in line with the spirit of MA63 signed on July 9, 1963, and by virtue of the agreement related to the separation of Singapore from Malaysia as an independent and sovereign state on Aug 7, 1965.
The Bill also sought to amend Article 161A by replacing Clause 6 (a) to say that in regard to Sarawak, the indigenous races of Sarawak are as stated in the state law.
In a statement, Wan Junaidi said the amendments serve to recognise the demands and special status of Sabah and Sarawak upon their joining Malaysia to form the Federation.
He explained the amendment would see MA63 placed on an equal footing with the Federal Agreements of 1948 and 1957.
“When Malaysia was formed in 1963, some promises in the MA63 were not included in the Federal Constitution, and as such the agreement was not truly recognised.
“What we are doing here is to place MA63 in the Federal Constitution in order to create the ‘real Malaysia’ in the context of the three agreements of the Federal Agreement 1948, Federal Agreement 1957 and MA63.
“As such, the Federal Government can no longer state that the demands from Sabah and Sarawak are not in line with the Federal Constitution,” said the minister.
“This is about recognition of Sabah and Sarawak as states of Malaysia – with a difference. An example of this would be the ability of the two states to manage their own immigration borders, complete control of their own natural resources including oil and gas, forest and land.
“In fact, Sabah and Sarawak should also have their own judicial commissions which we still do not have now, despite the formation of the commissions as one of the promises cited in the Agreement.
“As per the Agreement, the Sabah and Sarawak governments via their governors, should have the authority to appoint their own commissioners, unlike what is done in the other states,” he added.