Top three posts should be shared, says PKAN
Published on: Tuesday, January 23, 2018
Kota Kinabalu: "All Sabahans especially the Momogun, Bajau Suluk/ Brunei and Chinese must unite and fight together as Anak Negeri and exert our rights under the terms of the MA63 (Malaysia Agreement) to ensure lasting political stability."This concept of an equitable power sharing as envisioned during the signing of the MA63 will surely reflect the multi ethnic character of Sabah.The equitable power sharing formula should involve the three major ethnic stock namely Momogun (dusunic murutic and paitanic speakers), Bajau Suluk/ Brunei and Chinese.
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Making the call Sunday, Parti Kerjasama Anak Negeri (PKAN) President Datuk Henrynus Amin said the top three positions namely the appointment of the Yang DiPertua Negeri, the Chief Minister and Speaker of State Assembly should be shared not only based on ethnicity but also party affiliation to reflect the multi ethnic structure of the political system.He said power sharing must begin at the top and therefore the top three positions in Sabah should be appointed not only based on ethnicity but also party affiliation.He said the current practice where Umno dominate the top 3 positions in the State Government namely the appointment of the Yang DiPertua Negeri, the Chief Minister and Speaker of State Assembly must be changed to reflect power sharing of the multi ethnic coalition.Henrynus suggested that if a Bajau/Brunei were to be appointed Chief Minister, the Yang DiPertuan Negeri should be a Momogun regardless of his faith and the Speaker an ethnic Chinese.
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"Likewise if the Chief Minister were to be a Momogun or Chinese, the power sharing arrangement for the top 3 positions should be readjusted accordingly.""Ethnic Chinese born in Sabah should be treated as Anak Negeri Sabah and should not be left out of the power sharing arrangement."
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According to Henrynus, as then PBS Secretary General, he once initiated and wrote a letter with the consent of the then PBS President to the BN Secretary General Tengku Adnan Mansor and gave a copy to Chief Minister YAB Tan Sri Musa Aman in 2010 to suggest an equitable BN power sharing arrangenent starting from the 3 top positions of the state.He said PBS never received the reply from Tengku Adnan during his tenure then as PBS Secretary General."But YAB Chief Minister called me to his office in 2010 to seek clarification about my letter to BN Secretary General." "If I recall correctly, during my conversation, I brought to his attention that nothing in the State Constitution can prevent non Muslim Momogun from holding the post of Yang DiPertua Negeri.""In fact, in my letter I proposed Tan Sri Joseph Pairin as a suitable candidate to be appointed Yang DiPertuan Negeri.""Of course today we have many other Momogun leaders regardless of party affiliation qualified to be appointed as Yang DiPertuan Negeri such as Tan Sri Bernard Dompok, Tan Sri Joseph Kurup, Tan Sri Kasitah Gaddam, Tan Sri Simon Sipaun, Datuk Dr Othman Minudin, Datuk Masidi Manjun, Datuk Radin Malleh and Datuk Bernard Maraat, etc," he said."The fact of the matter is that although Islam is the state religion of Sabah, Yang DiPertuan Negeri is not the head of Islam."He said the Sabah Legislative Assembly has endorsed the recommendation of the IGC and MA63 to make Yang DiPertuan Agong as the head of Islam for Sabah.To back his claim, Henrynus quoted Article 5B(1) which says that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is Head of Islam in Sabah and Article 5B(2) says the State Legislative Assembly shall be responsible for making provisions for regulating Islamic religious affairs and for constituting a Council to advise the Yang di-Pertuan Agong in matters relating to Islam."It is quite obvious the original intention of provisions in MA63 to make Yang DiPertuan Agong as the head of Islam in Sabah was to accommodate the prospect of non Muslim natives to hold the position as Tuan Yang DiPertuan Negeri."However, he said, an equitable power sharing involving the 3 major ethnic groups in Sabah was gone since Umno took over power in 1995."Only the people of Sabah can correct the situation by voting for a new government in the coming election."Henrynus described PBS today as spineless, no longer interested to pursue the rights of Momogun to be appointed Yang DiPertuan Negeri and is totally subservient to Umno. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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