By DANIEL JOHN JAMBUN, President Borneo’s Plight in Malaysia Foundation (BoPiMaFo)
KOTA KINABALU: Borneo’s Plight in Malaysia Foundation (BoPiMaFo) has taken note of the Prime Minister’s recent call for Malaysians to reject the politics of race and religion.
BoPiMaFo agrees that Malaysia cannot build a united, stable and prosperous nation if public discourse continues to be driven by racial and religious division.
However, rejecting racial and religious politics must also mean having the courage to confront, through lawful and constitutional means, unresolved issues that have affected public confidence in our democratic institutions.
For Sabah, one such issue is the long-standing concern surrounding the matter commonly referred to as “Project IC”.
BoPiMaFo wishes to emphasise that this issue should never be viewed as a conflict between races or religions. It is fundamentally a constitutional issue concerning citizenship, the integrity of the electoral roll, democratic representation and the rule of law.
Every genuine Malaysian citizen, regardless of race, religion or ethnicity, has an equal constitutional right to free, fair and democratic elections. Likewise, every person who acquires Malaysian citizenship must do so strictly in accordance with the Federal Constitution and the laws of Malaysia.
If citizenship, identity documents or electoral registration are obtained or administered unlawfully, the greatest victim is not any particular racial or religious community. The greatest victim is the Federal Constitution itself, together with the democratic rights of every lawful Malaysian voter.
The integrity of the electoral roll is the cornerstone of parliamentary democracy. Public confidence in elections depends upon the confidence that only those lawfully entitled to vote are included in the electoral roll.
Sabah occupies a unique constitutional position within the Federation of Malaysia. The constitutional safeguards and solemn assurances given at the formation of Malaysia in 1963 were intended to protect Sabah’s security, demographic stability, democratic representation and constitutional autonomy.
These safeguards were never intended to divide Malaysians along racial or religious lines. They were intended to ensure that Sabah’s future would always be determined through lawful constitutional processes and the genuine democratic will of its people.
BoPiMaFo therefore respectfully submits that if Malaysia is sincere in rejecting racial and religious politics, then the constitutional questions that have persisted in Sabah for decades must also be addressed openly, objectively and in accordance with the rule of law.
The Foundation calls upon all political leaders to rise above partisan interests and support transparent, independent and lawful measures to strengthen public confidence in the integrity of citizenship administration and the electoral process.
This is not a campaign against any race or any religion.
It is a constitutional pursuit to ensure that the Federal Constitution is respected, that public institutions faithfully discharge their constitutional duties, and that every Malaysian can have confidence in the legitimacy of our democratic system.
BoPiMaFo also calls upon Sabah’s youth to recognise that they are the future custodians of our State. They must actively participate in protecting constitutional governance, democratic accountability and the rule of law, for the decisions made today will shape the Sabah that future generations inherit.
As we have consistently maintained:
“We are not fighting the battles of yesterday. We are safeguarding the future of Sabah for generations to come.”
