Speaking to FMT, PBS youth chief Christopher Mandut said former Sabah PAS deputy commissioner Hamid Ismail was being excessively concerned with the letter of MA63 and ignoring its spirit when he cited a passage in the document that says: “North Borneo shall be a state known as Sabah.”
Mandut argued that the word “state” in the sentence is not an exact translation of “negeri” as used in its political sense in contemporary Malaysia.
“In Europe, for example, Germany and Italy are referred to as European states, but they are certainly not negeri,” he said.
Hamid issued his statement in response to Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg’s announcement that his government’s official communications would no longer refer to Sarawak as a “negeri” or “state” after Article 1 (2) of the Federal Constitution had been amended to comply with MA63.
Sabah Chief Minister Shafie Apdal subsequently said his government would consider doing the same.
Mandut welcomed the Sarawak and Sabah proposals, saying they would go a long way towards clearing up “confusion among Malaysians” as to the true status of the two territories.
He noted with approval that academic Awang Azman Pawi recently suggested the Federation of Malaysia be stylised, like the United Kingdom, as the “Kingdom of Malaysia” consisting of Malaya, Sarawak and Sabah.
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