Referring to Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s Malaysia Day address on Sunday night, Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku president Jeffrey Kitingan told FMT he was disturbed by the prime minister’s remark about the ability of Sabahans and Sarawakians to travel to Peninsular Malaysia “without encumbrances”.
“If we read between the lines, he is saying that such is not the case for Malayans who come to Sabah and Sarawak,” he said.
“I read it as a hint that he wants to take away our immigration power.”
Kitingan said his suspicion was strengthened by Mahathir’s subsequent remarks about differences of opinions among leaders in the three provinces of Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak.
He alleged that the prime minister was making a connection between immigration autonomy and the barring of some politicians trying to enter Sabah and Sarawak.
He said it was especially alarming that the remarks were made in the context of restoring Sabah and Sarawak’s status under the Malaysia Agreement 1963.
“It was as if he was saying, ‘I will give you this, but I’ll take that.’ I hope the governments of Sabah and Sarawak are not so weak as to succumb to such an eventuality.”
Recalling his meetings with Mahathir during the latter’s previous tenure as prime minister, he claimed that Mahathir would time and again refer to the federation as being centralised in Kuala Lumpur.
“The fact that Sabah and Sarawak still maintain their immigration power irks Mahathir and it is not impossible that he wants to remove this power eventually,” he said. “He is testing the waters now.”
In his speech, Mahathir said he believed it was the easy movement of Sabahans and Sarawakians to the peninsula that had strengthened relations between citizens of the country separated by the South China Sea.
By Tracy Patrick
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