Sarawak’s legal team to find out why Malaysia Agreement signed
(FMT) – Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg says the team headed for London to undertake an in-depth study of MA63 and the Cobbold Commission, adds that it is up to the sons of the original signatories to ensure it is properly implemented.
The Sarawak legal team going to London will research on the objectives of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) and the Cobbold Commission Report.
It will also look into references related to the state’s rights under MA63, Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg said.
The Borneo Post quoted him as saying that in upholding the rights of Sarawak in Malaysia, the uppermost consideration was adherence to the spirit of the Malaysia Agreement and the Federal Constitution.
Abang Johari said this at a Hari Raya Aidilfitri gathering organised by the Islamic Welfare Trust Board of Limbang and the Islamic Welfare Trust Board of Lawas on Tuesday.
“In any agreement, there is always the unwritten objective behind what is agreed upon. We want to find out the authority on the agreement as a treaty,” he was quoted as saying.
He was referring to the negotiations before the MA63 was concluded, to which his father and the father of Prime Minister Najib Razak were signatories for Sarawak and the Federation of Malaya, respectively.
As their sons, Abang Johari said, they had a responsibility to see to it that the MA63 was complied with.
Sarawak’s Law, Federal-State Relations and Project Monitoring Assistant Minister Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali is leading the team to London.
The Sarawak government hopes that whatever the team finds will help provide a sound foundation in negotiations with the Federal Government in regaining Sarawak’s rights.
According to MA63 activist Zainnal Ajamain, who authored the book “The Queen’s Obligation”, about the MA63, the document was signed by five parties – the United Kingdom, Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore
“What we have in Malaysia are three of the five original copies of the MA63, with the other two being in the UK and Singapore. But there are over 200,000 documents, letters, minutes of meetings and telegrams relating to the formation of Malaysia,” he had earlier told FMT.
Zainnal, who has been studying the MA63 for over 15 years, said there were many documents – written in the lead up to MA63 – which were declassified only as recently as 1999, and which were now kept at the British National Archives in Kew, London.
He had said that within these documents were crucial bits of information which would provide context to the MA63 and references to the rights of Sabah and Sarawak.
