KUALA LUMPUR: Leaders from Sabah and Sarawak have been urged not to abuse their discretionary immigration powers by barring Members of Parliament from entering.

       Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (pic) said that he respected the rights of the states to manage the entry of foreigners.

       He claimed, however, that the powers were being used to stop the certain lawmakers from entering the Borneo States.

       He said this while debating the Bill to amend the Federal Constitution on the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) in parliament on Tuesday (Dec 14).

       Anwar also reminded Sabah and Sarawak leaders to understand the aspirations of Independence, and highlighted that Federal lawmakers had also defended them to restore their rights.

       The Port Dickson MP also pointed out that the biggest challenges faced by Sabah and Sarawak was the lack of Federal funding, but since Independence there had many leaders that had managed to generate massive wealth.

       “At the same time, this has caused the people to remain poor. This is not the aspiration of the formation of Malaysia,” he further added.

       “The formation of Malaysia is to guarantee the prosperity and the benefit of all rakyat,” he said.