KUCHING: President of Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK), Voon Lee Shan has suggested that the formation of Malaysia be examined closely including the legality of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
“The Gabungan Parti Sarawak(GPS) government should disclose to the public what it found in London about the MA63,” he said.
He also added that if the treaty was invalid or illegally signed, the federation of Malaysia should be dissolved.
“If the treaty is valid, then, just implement all terms and conditions therein.
“What is there to wait or to negotiate or re-negotiate? The matter had been left outstanding or unsolved for the past 59 years,” Voon said in his statement yesterday.
He added that the suggestion by Prime Minster, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to negotiate “things in MA63 a little more” would not bring an end soon to the “ghost” that had been haunting the federal and state governments of Sarawak and Sabah for many years.
“The Prime Minister may need to be informed that the people of Sarawak and Sabah are aware that the main intention of forming the federation of Malaysia was to protect the interests of the British in South East Asia after World War II and for Malaya to benefit from the oil resources of both states.
“If the prime minister wishes to deny that these oil and gas resources had been used to develop Malaya, then repeal the Petroleum Development Act 1974, Seas Territorial Act and also the Continental Shelf Act and return all these resources to Sabah and Sarawak,” he said.
Voon pointed out that the restoration of all rights of Sarawak must begin by putting back Sabah and Sarawak to their original positions as countries, not as regions or provinces within the federation of Malaysia.
He feared the use of the term region (wilayah) or province as suggested by some federal and local leaders would one day see Sabah and Sarawak becoming federal territories and being called as Wilayah Persekutuan Sabah and also Wilayah Persekutuan Sarawak.
“They will end up like Labuan, which is now known as Federal Territories of Labuan or Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan.
“If this happens, the immigration laws protecting the rights of Sabah and Sarawak under MA63 will be redundant,” he added.
