Negotiate a Malaysia Agreement-plus to affirm Borneo and decentralise Malaysia

We hold that Malaysia is an ongoing project, that its sustainability must be endeavoured by every generation to fulfil its promise of wellbeing for all in Malaysia from East to West, from Sabah to Perlis.

We note that our founding parents had discussed the need for a new federal constitution, but this was not possible due to the urgency of decolonisation for Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore.

We understand the growing perception among Sabahans and Sarawakians that the federal government’s approach to the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) negotiations reflects procrastination rather than a true commitment.

We would like to underline several facts that may facilitate a better negotiation on the realisation of the MA63.

First, the Federation of Malaya was dissolved upon Malaysia’s formation to release its 11 states to federate with Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore; and the federal government constitutionally and politically cannot negotiate effectively with Sabah and Sarawak without the participation and backing of the 11 states in the peninsula.

Second, Malaysia is neither a confederation of three regions, nor a symmetric federation of 13 equal and undifferentiated states, but an asymmetric federation of two regions (Sabah and Sarawak), 11 states in the peninsula and three federal territories. But Sabah and Sarawak’s status as special regions was not explicitly reflected in the original Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution upon Malaysia’s formation, and even after the 2021 constitutional amendment, it is still not.

Third, many state in the peninsula want to have decentralisation with more legislative powers, executive responsibilities and fiscal resources, and they can form an alliance with Sabah and Sarawak to collectively negotiate with the federal government for a national decentralisation agenda that would devolve more powers to all states but ensure that Sabah and Sarawak always enjoy more powers than the Malayan states.

We therefore call:

• for a bold and visionary thinking that MA63 should be the floor, not the ceiling of what we can achieve in decentralisation, and the wider decentralisation package would be called MA63-plus as it includes what were included in the original MA63 but may be more, for example, the powers in education, health and labour, which were given to Singapore but not to Sabah or Sarawak in MA63
• for an inclusive negotiation to achieve MA63-plus, which requires, not administrative concessions or ad-hoc transfer of powers via ministerial decisions, but amendments to the Federal Constitution, in particular but not limited to:

• • Article 1(2) to officially recognise Sabah and Sarawak as regions

• • Articles 45–46 on the allocation of seats in the Senate and the House of Representatives

• • Articles 109–112D on grants, taxes, fees and borrowing to/for/by the states

• • Articles 116–117 on federal and state elections

• • The eighth schedule on the basic structure of state constitutions

• • The ninth schedule on the distribution of powers across the federal list, the state lists and the concurrent lists

• for the establishment of an inter-governmental committee 2.0, involving the federal government (1), Sabah and Sarawak (2) and the states in the peninsula (11), in a 1+2+11 format, with a reasonable representation of the opposition in the federal Parliament and state legislative assemblies, for the above constitutional renegotiation

• upon the premier of Sarawak, the chief minister of Sabah, or chief minister of any other state to initiate an inter-state conversation through a 2+11 premier/menteri besar/chief minister summit to forge a consensus on MA63-plus before presenting it to the federal government.

On this 62nd anniversary of Malaysia, let us acknowledge that our nation is still growing, and that the ties between the federal, regional and state governments are not without flaws.

What we need now is courage and honesty to strengthen these relationships, so that together we can create a Malaysia that is more stable, more united and more prosperous for future generations.

Selamat Hari Malaysia!

1. Projek Kestabilan dan Akauntabiliti untuk Malaysia (Projek Sama)
2. Gabungan Pilihanraya Bersih dan Adil (Bersih)
3. Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas)
4. Persatuan Bertindak Pilihan Raya Bebas Dan Saksama (Tindak)
5. Persatuan Pemangkin Daya Masyarakat (Rose)

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