SAPP supreme council member John Stephen Dionysius told FMT his party was happy that the Pakatan Harapan government had not chosen to cancel former prime minister Najib Razak’s executive order in 2009 to gazette the date as a public holiday for the entire nation, but he added:
“Why stop at making it a public holiday? It should be incorporated into the Federal Constitution and defined as Malaysia Day in Article 160.”
He said it was odd that the country should commemorate Aug 31, 1957 as Malaysia Day when Malaysia came into being only on Sept 16, 1963.
Since 2009, official celebrations on Sept 16 have been held only in Sabah and Sarawak, which have taken turns to host the festivities. This year, it is Sabah’s turn.
Dionysius questioned whether the government was sincere enough to fully honour the Malaysia Agreement of 1963 (MA63) as well as the promise Pakatan Harapan made during the election campaign to restore the status of Sabah and Sarawak as equal partners with Peninsular Malaysia.
He said the people of Sabah and Sarawak would like to see a new Malaysian constitution based on MA63.
“We must remember that MA63 set out the terms and conditions for the component states to be federated under a new constitution under a new nation called Malaysia,” he said. “Sadly, this never happened.
“So, I urge the new government to let this happen in this new Malaysia. This would be a meaningful change for the Borneans and for the people in Malaya as well.”
He said the people of Sabah and Sarawak gave Pakatan Harapan their votes because they were swayed by its promise to honour MA63.
“Sabahans and Sarawakians want the full implementation of MA63,” he added. “Remember that they will make a decision again in the next election.”
By Tracy Patrick