KUCHING, February 13 - After the restoring Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution into its original position, the federal ministers from Sarawak must push for the restoration or recognition of Sarawak’s status as autonomous partner within the Federation of Malaysia, Selangau MP Baru Bian said in a statement today.
He said the Sarawak government, at the same time, should declare and assert forcefully the most fundamental point that there is no official religion in Sarawak as one of the points that the founding forefathers had agreed to partner with Malaya to form a secular country.
“This is crucial because the people in Sarawak and Sabah are unhappy with the weaponising of religion and race in Malaya by the political parties to divide the people.
“Sarawak and Sabah must be united in fighting to regain our rights and status within theFederation,” Baru, who is also Ba’Kelalan state assemblyman, said.
He was referring to an assertion by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar yesterday that Sarawak would continue to fight for one third of the total 222 seats in Parliament to be allocated to the Borneo states.
Baru said he is glad that now somebody within the federal government is talking about this.
“For so many years, I have made many public statements and spoken in the State Assembly on this matter and so have many other opposition leaders.
“The withdrawal of Singapore from the Federation of Malaysia in 1965 had caused the balance of power between Peninsula Malaysia and Sabah/Sarawak to shift,” he said, adding that over the years, the number of seats in Peninsula Malaysia increased disproportionately to the increase in the number of seats in Sabah and Sarawak.
He added Sarawak is a huge state with vast areas where many of its parliamentary areas are even bigger than many states in Malaya, citing his Selangau constituency, which almost as big as the state of Pahang, as an example.
He said some areas in Sarawak can only be accessible through jungle tracks and logging roads.
“The increase of representatives from such areas in the federal Parliament would definitely augur well for the constituents and for national integration,” Baru said.
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