By Datuk Seri Panglima Madius Tangau
I call upon all Sabah parties and elected representatives, working together with their peers in Sarawak and the Malayan States where relevant, to jointly demand the following steps in decentralisation:
● In the upcoming parliamentary meeting: Establish a Parliamentary Special Select Committee (PSSC) on Federalism and Decentralisation to gather voices of Sabah, Sarawak and the 11 states in the Malayan region to collaborate with the Prime Minister’s Department Minister in charge of Sabah and Sarawak Affairs DSP Maximus Ongkili on necessary constitutional and legal amendments to enable greater autonomy for governments in the three regions to better respond to the pandemic and economic hardship as well as the post-pandemic development;
● By next full parliamentary meeting: Amend the Ninth Schedule of the Federal Constitution to move ‘Medicine and Heath’ from the Federal List (Item 14) to the Concurrent List alongside ‘Public Health, Sanitation and the Prevention of Diseases (Item 7) so that the State Governments have bigger say in the interrelated aspects to formulate more effective responses to future medical emergency. The plights in hospitals in Selangor is a frightening warning to Sabah of the Federal Government’s failure in providing adequate support. All States must come together to demand for decentralisation of medicine and health beginning with amendment of the Ninth Schedule.
● By the next feasible State Legislative Assembly meeting: enact a Public Health Ordinance for Sabah as per the existing provision of Item 7 “Public Health, Sanitation and the Prevention of Diseases” on the Concurrent List. The Sabah State Government must stand firm on its concurrent constitutional power on prevention of diseases so that the Federal authorities realise that the State cannot be ignored or commanded, but must be heard.
● During the duration of the 16th Sabah State Legislative Assembly: decentralise Sabah to create elected Divisional Governments, equivalent to Malayan states, whose boundaries can be carefully redrawn to empower ethno-linguistic-cultural diversity in Sabah and enable more effective and bottom-up economic development. The State Government can assign this ground-breaking re-organisation of Sabah to be a region on par with Malaya to our visionary DCM DSP Dr Jeffery Kittingan, who was the first to advocate the restoration of Divisions/Residencies as a level of administration.
Reconvening of the State Legislature Assembly
I call upon Sabah Chief Minister DSP Hajiji Noor to seek the convening of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly (SLA) before the Emergency ends on 1 August midnight to avoid automatic dissolution. Since the Sabah SLA was last adjourned on December 23, 2020, it has passed the six-month interval between one legislative session and another on June 23, 2021. The Emergency currently halts the legislative clock and avoids automatic dissolution but the clock will resume after August 2, 2021.
By convening the SLA after August 1, the State Government risks exposing the State to another snap election in a year after the one in last September. If anyone successfully seeks a court declaration that the SLA has stood automatically dissolved on August 2, Sabahans would be exposed to a super-spreader event when the Delta variant runs wild globally. Alternatively, Sabah would be put under another Emergency which would hold back its return to normalcy.
The SLA can be reconvened for even as brief as a day and a few important decisions can be made:
(a) A motion calling for the setting up of the PSSC on Federalism and Decentralisation in Dewan Rakyat, officially registering the voice of the Sabah people, if the SLA is convened before July 26;
(b) An amendment of the SLA’s Standing Orders to enable the SLA and its committees to meet online or in hybrid mode such that the legislative businesses need not be suspended should the pandemic deepen again;
(c) Passing of any other motion or ordinance ready to empower the State Government and People of Sabah on public health, intellectual property rights (such as trademarks) or other matters.
CSA at both Federal and State Level
I reiterate our consistent call for Confidence and Supply Agreements to be reached at both the Dewan Rakyat and Sabah SLA so that policy decisions may be made with cross-party consultation to reduce blindspots and public backlashes, and that difficult policies can be made with all parties taking ownership. It is also important to allow the Parliament and SLA to run full term with a pre-agreed date instead of rushing to the polls with the attainment of herd mentality. If the election date is tied to the success in pandemic containment, then as the success gets closer, both state ministers will have greater incentives to deviate from the ministerial responsibilities to prepare for their electoral battles. There is no reason why we cannot allow both the Parliament and the SLA to complete their terms for the remaining two and four years respectively.
ISSUED BY
Datuk Seri Panglima Madius Tangau
United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (UPKO) President
Tuaran Member of Parliament (MP)
KOTA KINABALU
