20-point pact: ‘Make your stand clear’
The 20-point document is an internationally-acknowledged multiparty agreement which cannot be unilaterally violated, claims a Sabah MP.
(Free Malaysia Today) – TAWAU: The federal and the state Barisan Nasional governments have been urged to make their stand clear on the issue of the 20-point agreement which underpinned the pact to form Malaysia in 1963 together with Sarawak, Singapore and Malaya.
MP for Tawau, Chua Soon Bui, said that a clarification on the issue was appropriate following a controversial statement by State Legislative Assembly Speaker Salleh Keruak recently that the agreement guaranteeing Sabah’s special rights after the formation of Malaysia, was no longer valid as such safeguards are already part of the Federal Constitution.
Chua, who is also vice-president of Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP), said the relevance of the 20-point agreement was highlighted in the High Court ruling over the Borneonisation suit on May 25, when judge David Wong Dak Wah dismissed the application by both the federal and state governments to strike out a suit filed by two Sabahans.
“Since the judge ruled that the suit and the claim are not frivolous, the relevance of the 20-point agreement is also clearly indicated,” she said.
Chua said Salleh’s statement came as a shock as both the 20-point agreement for Sabah and the 18-point agreement for Sarawak are internationally-acknowledged multiparty agreements which cannot be unilaterally violated by the federal government.
She contended that although only parts of the 20-point agreement were legally binding when they were incorporated in the constitution, it did not mean that the 20-point agreement was invalid or irreverent.
“Although the 20-point agreement is not binding in totality, the Sabah state government has the right to demand its full restoration instead of voluntarily surrendering such rights, as suggested by the Speaker.
“It is high time the federal government reassured such rights in their original form to Sabah and Sarawak,” she said.
