KUCHING: The proposed vote on Article 1(2) for constitutional amendment could see a hung Parliament and easily leads to a vote of no confidence should Pakatan Harapan (PH) fail to get the two thirds majority required for the amendment to take effect.
Social media was ablaze when Pakatan Harapan abruptly and without proper or ample prior notice tabled the amendment Bill to amend article 1(2) in Parliament supposedly to restore Sarawak and Sabah’s status vis a vis their positions during the signing of the Malaysian Agreement 1963.
Opinions differ on the reasons for rejecting the Bill but the effect is the same with the majority of Sarawak and Sabah lawmakers in parliament disagreeing with the tabling of the Bill with some having made representations to the minister in-charge, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Liew Vui Keong.
Among those who sounded their displeasure at the whole debacle was GPS parliamentarian and representative for Batang Sadong in Parliament Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri who has consistently campaigned for a proper approach to the restoration of Sarawak’s rights and to tackle bread and butter issues like finances, revenue and sources of income for the state first as opposed to the cosmetic change intended in the Bill presented on Thursday.
“We in GPS had spoken to the minister prior to all of this and we were given the impression that the Bill was only going to be tabled later and we thought as per the rules of Parliament we would have had at least forty-eight hours to peruse the Bill,” said Nancy in a phone interview Thursday night upon her arrival in Kuching.
She continued to explain, “It is not that we want to oppose the Bill but we feel as we are all representatives of our people there should have been space for us to bring the Bill back for consultations with our people before any tabling for reading was done.”
She revealed, “Datuk Wan Junaidi has made steps to request that the Bill be sent to a select committee for due process before the second reading but I fear it might fail and if so we will have to debate the Bill at which juncture I believe even PH MPs from Sabah and even some from Sarawak may not vote the Bill through and thereby failing the 2/3 majority requirement for constitutional amendments.”
She added, “Furthermore from my reading there seems to be problems with the wordings and it feels as if we are actually being further downgraded and not actually being restored plus the amendment alone is not enough because there are numerous other amendments that have to be made to give proper effect to this one.
“GPS always said to differ the Bill and concentrate on the cabinet level committee and allow the committee to accomplish all that is necessary there first before making cosmetic window dressings that may actually be a downgrade more than anything else.”
