No Need To Amend July 22 As Sarawak Independence Day Says Activist

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State Reform Party Sarawak president Lina Soo.KUCHING: State Reform Party Sarawak (STAR) president Lina Soo says there is no need to amend the gazetted notification of “Sarawak Independence Day” to “Sarawak Day” on July 22
She said although July 22 was merely the date of internal self-government, with the first appointment of a Sarawak chief minister and Cabinet, it was the intention of the late Sarawak chief minister Adenan Satem to remind Sarawakians to safeguard the state
“Was Adenan wrong when he called it Sarawak Independence Day? No. Adenan was a learned lawyer and knew what he was doing
“By daring to call it ‘Independence Day’, when it is not, Adenan had in fact left his legacy behind for us to chase the bigger picture and to make it happen,” she said in a statement today
“If Sarawak Independence Day is changed to Sarawak Day, at the behest of politicians, is it because they insist Sarawak is not independent and can never be
“Would that mean then that Sarawak is akin to being a colony of the federation, as defined in Article 160 of the Federal Constitution?”Last Friday, Sarawak DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen urged the state government to amend the gazette notification which stated July 22 as a public holiday to celebrate Sarawak’s independence day
According to him, July 22 is not Sarawak’s independence day but it was gazetted by the previous Sarawak Barisan Nasional as such in 2016 to serve its own political agenda
“I’m glad that the state government has finally come to terms that July 22 is not Sarawak’s independence day,” he said
Sarawak legal counsel JC Fong said the gazette, which was signed by the late Adenan, was wrongly prepared
“The fault lies with the officer who prepared the gazette
“So, it would be better to have it corrected as the same question has been raised year after year,” he said. - FMT

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