MINISTERS MUST DEFEND CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS

By : UBF MEDIA

AT a UBF Borneo Tea Party hosted by Lodimon Balantis in Kampung Pinahawon, Inanam, on Friday, the Borneo Heritage Foundation United Borneo Front Committee (UBF) Chairman, Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan, said that Federal Ministers, including Tan Sri Bernard Dompok, has a right to question departments which are responsible for the issuance of identity documents that confer full citizenship on people who have sneaked in to Malaysia.

According to Jeffrey, this right comes from the oath taken by Ministers before the King pursuant to Article 43(6) of the Federal Constitution which states that the Ministers shall ‘preserve, protect and defend [Malaysia’s] Constitution.’

“Part III of the Federal Constitution relates to the acquisition of citizenship in this Country. If a Federal Minister or member of the Cabinet has any reason to believe that a government department or person has broken the provisions of Part III of the Federal Constitution so as to threaten the territorial integrity of this country, that Minister is under oath as part of his/her allegiance to King and country to highlight those issues and defend the integrity of our Federal Constitution.

“A Federal Minister who raises this issue in good faith for the King and Prime Minister to consider is well aware of his/her oaths and collective responsibility to King, parliament and the nation. Our responsibility as elected representatives is to defend King, citizens and country from the threat of aliens who acquire documents against any of the stipulated provisions of Part III of the Federal Constitution,” Jeffrey said.

Addressing the crowd of over 100 people, Jeffrey added that all Sabahan leaders should support each other where common issues are challenged before the Federal powers.

“Why are we not supporting each other in addressing common problems? There are numerous books and articles on the data involving allegations of the conferment of citizenships on illegal immigrants. This is a very critical moment for Sabahans because our poverty is evidence of our disenfranchisement.

“If Sabah today has full control of the oil rights instead of the paltry 5% and full administration of a financial off-shore centre like Labuan, would we be in our present predicament?

“Yet, when did we lose a great chunk of our oil and Labuan? We have a right to demand that our voting rights be a true reflection of what Sabahans want (without the demographics tipping in favour of illegal voters).

“We have a right to demand for the return of our oil percentages. We have a right to demand that Labuan comes back to Sabah. Everything was taken away from Sabah without the consent of the people of Sabah and a referendum was not even carried out at the time we lost everything.

“Dompok is certainly not the person who should resign from politics. The British let go of us but reaped the economic benefit from Borneo and now we find that Malaya has also taken us for a ride. If we were to question disenfranchisement, who will the international community side with? Malaya who has 95% of our oils or Sabah with 5%?

“The only way we can regain control is for every Sabahan and Sarawakian politician to amalgamate under one Borneo party and demand for at least 90 seats in parliament to make 35% of the veto. If a Federal controlled party is not ready to defend our rights in Borneo, they are not relevant to Sabah or Sarawak,” Jeffrey said in the press statement.

Jeffrey was accompanied by his UBF Co-Founder and Adviser, Nilakrisna James; UBF Head Coordinator for Inanam, Lawrence Fung; UBF Head Coordinator for Kiulu, Dusi Gingging; UBF Head Coordinator for Tuaran, Edward Linggu; UBF Head Coordinator for Ranau, Paul Kerangkas; UBF Head Coordinator for Keningau, Moses Iking; UBF Head Coordinator for Sapanggar, Daniel John Jambun and Speaker, Rubbin Guribah.