KUCHING: The state government under Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) will continue to push the federal government to officially recognise the natives in Sarawak, said Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) vice-president Datuk Seri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom.
The Utilities Minister said the state government would also push the federal government to make amendments to all forms pertaining to race in respect to all the different groups of natives in Sarawak.
He was commenting on Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department (Law, State-Federal Relations and Project Monitoring) Datuk Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali’s statement on Tuesday that the definition of ‘natives’ under the supreme law must be updated.
“The issue of categorising the natives of Sarawak as ‘yang lain’ has been pursued since the late Tok Nan (the late former Chief Minister Pehin Sri Adenan Satem) and still continues under Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg,” he said when contacted on Wednesday (sept 22).
Meanwhile, Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) vice-president Datuk Dr Penguang Manggil emphasised that the GPS government was true to its slogan of ‘Rakyat Diutamakan’ (The People First) and had always looked after and fought for the wellbeing of the people.
“In addition to demanding that our rights, which had been eroded over the years, be restored or given back to Sarawak as spelt out in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), the GPS government under the leadership of our chief minister has consistently been reviewing and updating the Constitution.
“This is such that it (the Federal Constitution) is more inclusive and takes care of the interests of both Sarawak and Sabah as the founding member territories in the formation of Malaysia,” said the Assistant Minister of Local Government and Housing.
He said the aspect of recognition of natives in Sarawak was one of the many issues that the GPS state government had been and will continue to pursue until these interests are taken care of in accordance with MA63.
Earlier, Sharifah Hasidah said the definition of natives of Sarawak in the Federal Constitution had always been a concern as the current definition does not accurately reflect the numerous ethnicities among the natives in the state.
“Often, apart from the Malay, Chinese, and Dayak, the rest of the natives would be conveniently categorised as ‘others’ or ‘lain-lain’,” she said.
