KUCHING: Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing has told Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to play honest politics.
“Let’s play honest politics for once, otherwise Malaysia will never be a fully united country,” said Masing who is Sarawak Infrastructure and Ports Development Minister and president of Parti Rakyat Bersatu (PRS).
He was commenting on the prime minister’s statement claiming that the demand for equal partner status for Sarawak and Sabah was defeated in Parliament.
“That equal partner status wasn’t defeated in Parliament recently. What was defeated was a constitutional amendment which ignored, among other things, the term ‘in pursuance of MA63’ (which means to do what is required by MA63).
“By ignoring MA63, Putrajaya was pulling a fast one on Sarawak and Sabah hoping that they would be relegated to the status similar to that of the 11 federated Malayan states,” said Masing.
Masing stressed that Sabah and Sarawak are regions and not like the 11 states that make up Malaya.
“Sabah and Sarawak were the regions which signed the Malaysia Agreement 1963 with Malaya. We did not sign it with Johor or Selangor or Penang or any of the other states,” he said.
Since the defeat of the constitutional amendment Bill, Masing said Putrajaya agreed to review it in order to include the requirements as demanded by Sarawak.
“Mahathir, therefore, was not telling the truth when he said that the defeat of the Bill was because Sarawak refused to be on equal status with Malaya,” Masing said.
