Fellow Sarawakians,

The present BN/GPS government has to be voted out of office for continuing to misrepresent and mislead Sarawakians to believe in that Sarawak had gained full independence on 16 September 1963 as stated in the Sarawak government official portal.

Sarawak never gained independence as it was “integrated into Malaya renamed” Malaysia in 1963. The “proclamation of independence” by CM Ningkan in Kuching on 16 September 1963 was a false proclamation because Sarawak’s was a British colony in status when it was transferred to Malaya on that date. The British Parliament never passed a Sarawak Independence Act as required by UK to decolonise and declare SARAWAK as an Independent Country.

The Malaysia Declaration for the formation of the Federation of Malaysia signed by the Malayan Agong on 29 August 1963 which was subsequently approved by the Sarawak Legislative Assembly on 4 September 1963 with 38 votes for and 5 against has since created much confusion.

Before that the UK passed its Malaysia Act on 31 July 1963 to transfer Sarawak and North Borneo (Sabah) to Malaya. This was on the same day that Malaya signed the Manila Accord with Indonesia and the Philippines agreeing that Malaysia formation was subject to 2 pre-conditions that (a) the people’s wishes on Malaysia must first be assessed and (b) that the Philippines claim must be resolved.

The UK and Malayan governments agreement to the UN assessment amounted to acknowledging that MA63 did not comply with UN Resolution 1541 which the UK claimed it had used to decolonise Sarawak and Sabah. The UK Malaysia Act would also have been invalid for this reason since the Manila Accord being a later treaty on the same matter superseded MA63 and the UK Malaysia Act.

The Agong’s signing of the Malaysia Declaration was therefore in breach of the Manila Accord and total disregard of the UN Assessment which was still in progress at the time, and treating the views of the Borneo people as irrelevant and of no account.

Further it is clear that the Council Negri (Sarawak Legislative Assembly) nor the Ningkan Cabinet at that time had the legal power to vote for or endorse Malaysia because Sarawak was at that time officially under the full control of the United Kingdom up to 16 September 1963.

The Ningkan Cabinet was happy but swelling number of Sarawakians are not happy with CM Ningkan’s proclamation of false “independence in Malaysia” declared by Ningkan. If Sarawak had really gained independence, how is it that we have little power to rule ourselves but have been ruled almost directly by Malaya since 1963?

It is legally impossible under international law for any country to be “independent” by integration into another independent state.

The Malaysia formation issue has remained unresolved to this day as the Sarawak and Sabah governments are still “negotiating” with the federal government on implementing MA63 and the fact that the Philippines claim on Sabah remains a caveat on the UK transfer of Sabah to Malaya while there is an outstanding claim.

Malaysia’s legitimacy is therefore in doubt for many reason. CM Abang Johari recently stated that the failure of the Federal Constitution to recognise MA63 means it has no legal force. If so how could Sarawak and Sabah be in Malaysia without any legal basis?

In others words, Malaysia is just a de facto federation having illegal control of Sarawak and Sabah.

Is not GPS government a member of the federal government? Abdul Karim has commented that as long as the MA63 issues are not resolved the question of Sarawak independence will remain alive and vibrant among an increasing number of the younger generation.

Voon Lee Shan
Parti Bumi Kenyalang
18 April 2021