No reason for Sarawak MPs to vote for amendment Bill – Tiang

KUCHING - There is no reason for Sarawak MPs to vote for the amendment Bill next Tuesday, said Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Youth chief Michael Tiang.

Referring to Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Deputy Minister Chong Chieng Jen’s statement regarding the amendment Bill, the political secretary to the chief minister said the proposed amendment would do nothing to restore the status of Sabah and Sarawak because these two Borneo states would remain as one of the 13 states in the Federation.

“That is not the original spirit of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63). It is still 13 states no matter how they (Pakatan Harapan government) put it.

“Chong Chieng Jen urged Sarawakians to accept the amendment, only then other eroded rights would be returned to Sarawak. Status and rights go together, you cannot assert your rights without equivalent status.

“How can you have a lower status and assert your rights as an equal partner in the Federation of Malaysia?” he told a press conference at the SUPP headquarters here today.

Tiang said Sarawakians were angry and disappointed over the amendment Bill because it seemed that the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government thought that Sarawakians “don’t know how to read the Bill”.

He added that Sarawakians “had been insulted through and through” when it came to this amendment Bill. - BP news