Erroneous for federal minister to quote Cobbold Commission Report, says REFORM chief

KUCHING, Nov 16, 2016 - Sarawak Reform Party (REFORM) today said it is erroneous for de facto Law Minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman to refer Sarawak and Sabah as equal status with other states solely based on the Cobbold Commission Report.

 REFORM president Lina Soo holding the Malaysia Agreement, the mother of all documents relating to the formation of the Federation of Malaysia in 1963

"The Cobbold Commission Report is a sham and a farce, and should not be treated as a constitutional document for the definition of the Federation, nor appropriate to refer to it for state's rights,"  party president Lina Soo said.

She said her finding was based on the declassified colonial documents sourced from the British Archives, based on which she wrote two books on the formation of Malaysia – Sarawak Real Deal and Sarawak Chronicle.

Azalina, in a recent speech in Parliament on the political status of Sarawak and Sabah within the Federation of Malaysia, had quoted para 237 of the Cobbold Commission Report which claimed that was  no historical document that supports the contention that the formation of Malaysia is based upon equal partnership between the Malayan states, Sarawak, Sabah and Singapore. 

Soo asked if indeed the concept of the political association is of a Federation where all States are of equal status, then why did none of the 11 Malayan states sign the Malaysia Agreement 1963, together with the States of Sarawak, North Borneo and Singapore?

"If indeed, Malaysia is a Federation where all States are of equal status, each and every state should also be signatory to the Malaysia Agreement.  Instead the Malaysia Agreement is signed between only five governments – United Kingdom and Ireland, Federation of Malaya, Sarawak, North Borneo (Sabah) and Singapore which opted out in 1965.

"Since the 11 states of the Federation of Malaya did not sign MA63, it is obvious the Federation of Malaysia is a political association of equal standing between - (1) the Federation of Malaya, (2) Sarawak (3) North Borneo (Sabah) and (4) Singapore (which left the Federation in 1965).

"Why were the 11 states of Malaya left out and not made signatories to the Malaysia Agreement, questions Soo.  Sarawak signed the international treaty with the Federation of Malaya as equal component and not with each of the 11 Malayan states," she asked.