KUALA LUMPUR: The Bill to amend the Federal Constitution to be in line with the provisions of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) has been tabled for second reading in the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday (Dec 14).

       Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar (pic) said that the proposed bill was aimed at amending four constitutional amendments including Articles 1 (2), 160 (2) and 161A (6) of the Federal Constitution.

       Wan Junaidi explained among the amendments proposed in the bill was to amend Article 1(2) of the Constitution, which was to restore the Article to its original arrangement as it appeared in the 1963 Constitution.

       Also in the proposed amendments, states of the Federation would be defined as the States of Malaya (namely states in Peninsular Malaysia) and the Borneo states (namely Sabah and Sarawak).

       Wan Junaidi said the government was also proposing for the amendment of Article 160 (2) to include "Malaysia Day" as Sept 16, 1963, which was the date of the formation of Malaysia and the mark of the end of the Queen of England’s sovereignty over Sarawak and Sabah, or North Borneo as it was then called, as well as the end of the British rule over the two territories.

       Currently, there was no mention of Malaysia Day or Hari Malaysia in the Constitution, he said.

       This was the date on which Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore agreed to form the Federation with Malaya, thus creating Malaysia. Prior to this, the date of Malaysia Day had never been stated in the Federal Constitution.

       In the amendments, the government had proposed to redefine "the Federation" under Article 160 (2) as "the Federation first formed under the Perjanjian Persekutuan Tanah Melayu 1957 and later finalised on July 1963 between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Malay Federation, North Borneo (Sabah), Sarawak and Singapore."

       The proposed amendment continues: "The Federation, which is known as Malaysia, will comprise the colonies of North Borneo and Sarawak, and Singapore and the existing states of the Malay Federation with Singapore leaving the Federation on Aug 7, 1965."

       This new definition would replace the current one which simply stated that the Federation means "the Federation established under the Federation of Malaya Agreement 1957."

       The government was also seeking to amend Article 161A (6) concerning the definition of Sarawak natives.

       The proposed amendment would see Sarawak redefine "natives" as any citizen from Sarawak (as defined under the state’s constitution on races) and remove Article 161A (7) which defines the different natives.