History Will Record Who Rejected Constitutional Amendment Warns Liew

---

De facto law minister Liew Vui Keong has warned lawmakers who did not support the government’s bid to amend the Federal Constitution to restore the original status of Sabah and Sarawak that they will go down in history for rejecting the bill
“History will record down those who rejected the bill,” the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department said during a press conference in Parliament today
The Federal Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2019, which was tabled by Prime Minister Dr Mahatahir Mohamad yesterday, was part of efforts by the Pakatan Harapan government to amend the Federal Constitution to restore the original status of Sabah and Sarawak as enshrined in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63)
The amendment would have specified all the constituent states of the federation by restoring, with modifications, the position of Clause 2 of Article 1 of the constitution during the formation of Malaysia in 1963
When asked about criticism that the amendments tabled were cosmetic as they merely reflected geographical positions of states in Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysian states, Liew said this was tantamount to labelling MA63 as merely geographical as well
“That is their opinion. With the amendments we made, we stated that the Federation of Malaysia comprise the states of Malaya and the states of Borneo
“So we return to 1963. Can they say today that what happened in 1963 (when Malaysia was formed) was also just geographic
“I did not create this myself [...] How can it be cosmetic (changes)?” he said
He added: “So you (critics) are blaming your forefathers, is it?”Opposition leader Ismail Sabri Yaakob had reportedly criticised the amendment bill, saying it lacked even a mention of MA63
He was also reported as saying the bill was “cosmetic” as it merely stated the geographical positions of the states, instead of clearly defining the status of Sabah and Sarawak as regional territories or being among the founding countries
Other Umno MPs said the bill failed to address the real issues facing Sabah and Sarawak and was done without adequate consultation of relevant stakeholders
After being tabled for second reading yesterday, the bill failed to make it past block voting, being 10 votes short of garnering the required two-thirds support. In the end, there were 138 MPs supporting the amendment, none rejecting and 59 abstaining
Even so, Liew stated that the Special Cabinet Committee on MA63 would continue to discuss the amendments to Article 1(2)
He also said it was still possible for the bill to be retabled in the future, but that it would depend on “the will” of the minister in charge to obtain cabinet approval
“So it has to wait until the next minister, who has the heart and passion for these things,” he said. - Mkini

---