KUCHING: The federal government has been urged to amend the Federal Constitution during the coming sitting of Parliament from March 11 to April 11.
Sarawak Patriots Association (SPA) chairman Datuk Lau Pang Heng in the press statement issued yesterday requested the federal government to not only amend Article 1(2) but also Article 160 of the Federal Constitution so that it would read as “The Federation of Malaysia under the Malaysia Agreement 1963” instead of the “Federation of Malaya Agreement 1957” which does not reflect the constitutional status and reality of Malaysia.
He also said his association wants Article 1(2) amended to specify the territorial sea of Sabah and Sarawak to 12 nautical miles measured from the baseline determined with Article 3 Part II of Article 3 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982.
As for the Petroleum Development Act 1974, Lau said the clause, “This Act shall not be applicable to Sabah and Sarawak”, should be inserted.
Lau also stressed the need for amendment on Article 46 about the composition of the House of Representatives so that Sabah and Sarawak have at least one third representation in Parliament. The clause in Article 46 should state the number of members of parliament from Malaya should be more than two thirds. Currently Malaya and the Federal territories have a total of 166 seats which comprise 75 percent of the total number of seats in Parliament.
Other than that, the Federal Constitution should restore the equal partnership of Sabah, Sarawak and Malaya with equal distribution of budgets and financial allocations.
Last but not least, Lau stressed that the PH federal government should insert in the Federal Constitution the clause of giving 20 per cent of oil royalties to Sarawak as promised in their 14th general election manifesto.
