KUALA LUMPUR, July 26 — The proposal for a new agreement to replace the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) deviates from the country’s nationalism struggle, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah and Sarawak Affairs) Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili.
He stressed that to ignore MA63 is to reject the Federation of Malaysia.
“The Malaysia Agreement 1963 is a sacred and foundation document of the formation of the Federation of Malaysia, which means that without MA63, there is no Malaysia.
“No one should change the fundamental agreement that led to the formation of Malaysia,” he said during the Ministers’ Question Time session at the Dewan Rakyat today.
He said this in reply to a question from Datuk Mohd Azis Jamman (Warisan-Sepanggar) about the government’s view on the proposal of several politicians including the Keningau Member of Parliament regarding the need for a new agreement to replace MA63.
Ongkili said MA63 is very important because without it there will be no reference and basis to discuss issues that can benefit Sabah and Sarawak.
“We should focus on things such as whether the matters that were agreed upon during the formation of Malaysia have been fulfilled, so it is our responsibility to ensure that they are implemented,” he said.
He also called on all parties to unite and avoid playing with semantics and politics that could disrupt the unity of Keluarga Malaysia (Malaysian Family).
Meanwhile, Datuk Seri Dr Gapari Katingan (STAR-Keningau) during the same session admitted that he had made a statement regarding the new agreement to replace MA63.
“Now that the government has taken steps to fulfil the demands and respect the content of MA63, therefore what I have suggested before is no longer relevant,” he said.
