PETALING JAYA: Sabah politician Datuk Jeffrey Kitingan said that with Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud’s installation as Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sarawak, the time is ripe again to push for a full implementation of the Malaysia Agreement.

As equal partners, there needs to be one clear voice on the stand in “no uncertain terms” to push for the full implementation of the 1963 agreement, said the State Reform Party Sabah chief.

“Any other stand will give [the country’s leaders] the wrong assumption and presumption that Sabah and Sarawak are not serious in their demands for the terms of the formation of Malaysia to be complied with,” he said in a statement.

Kitingan was commenting on Chief Justice Tun Ariffin Zakaria’s statement, made during the recent launch of the book The Constitutional Rights of Sabah and Sarawak by lawyer Sukumaran Vanugopal, that Sabah and Sarawak are key partners in the Federation of Malaysia.

Kitingan said Arifin had “clearly stated the correct history” that Malaya gained independence on Aug 31, 1957 and that Malaysia was only formed in 1963 with special safeguards for Sabah and Sarawak in their constitutional arrangement.

Kitingan also referred to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Abdul Razak’s promise to BN partners in Sarawak that there would be a Cabinet reshuffle after the Umno general assembly last year. According to him, this promise was made to satisfy Sarawak MPs who were unhappy with the distribution of ministerial posts after the general election.

“Despite Sabah and Sarawak holding kingmaker positions, Najib has failed to undertake the Cabinet reshuffle since then,” Kitingan said.

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This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on March 03, 2014.