Sarawak Wants Ma63 Legal Interpretation Resolved Without Going To Court Says Dpm

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Deputy prime minister Fadillah Yusof said there are currently five critical MA63-related claims that have yet to be resolved at the highest levels of the federal government as well as the Sabah and Sarawak governments. (Bernama pic)
KUCHING: Negotiations between the federal and state governments regarding the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) can be resolved amicably without the need to bring the matter to court for legal interpretation, says deputy prime minister Fadillah Yusof.
He said Sarawak has also guaranteed that it would not involve the courts in finalising the legal interpretation of MA63.
As far as Sarawak is concerned, we will not bring this matter to court because we have two options. If it cannot be resolved at the highest leadership level, the final option is to take the matter to court for (legal) interpretation, not for dispute resolution.
“We are trying to avoid this (going to court). We are trying to reach an agreement at the federal and state levels and find a solution through negotiations without needing to refer to the courts,” he said during an event here today.
Fadillah, who also chairs the MA63 implementation action council, expressed confidence that with strong cooperation between the unity government and state administrations, the legal interpretation of the agreement can be finalised as outlined in the Federal Constitution.
He said there are currently five critical MA63-related claims that have yet to be resolved at the highest levels of the federal government as well as the Sabah and Sarawak governments.
“These include the 35% parliamentary seat quota for Sabah and Sarawak, (oil) royalty and the formula for increasing development allocations for the two states as provided under Article 112D of the Federal Constitution,” he said.
Fadillah also said the proposal to amend the one-third or 35% parliamentary seat quota for Sabah and Sarawak requires direct discussions, particularly with MPs from Peninsular Malaysia.
He noted that a similar approach was adopted by Sarawak governor Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, during his tenure as the law minister, as part of efforts to amend Article 160 of the Federal Constitution.
The amendment was made to incorporate the MA63, the Cobbold Commission Report, and the Inter-Governmental Committee report into the constitution.
“The demand for a greater share of parliamentary seats is both complex and challenging as it requires more than just negotiations at the ministerial and agency levels.
“More importantly, there must be political engagement, specifically, one-on-one discussions with MPs to gain their support and explain the rationale for the amendment. As it stands, MPs from Peninsular Malaysia occupy 75% of the 222 seats in the Dewan Rakyat,” Fadillah said. - FMT

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