"HAS TREASON BEEN COMMITTED BY THE THEN PRIME MINISTER AND HIS CABINET FOR SURRENDERING NATIONAL TERRITORY WITHOUT THE NECESSARY APPROVALS OF PARLIAMENT, STATE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY AND THE CONFERENCE OF RULERS?”

SAPP asks if ex-PM committed treason before stepping down

Published on: Tuesday, May 04, 2010

Kota Kinabalu: The reported ceding of three million acres of Sabah's maritime territory by the Federal Government to Brunei in March 2009 is unconstitutional, claims the Sabah Progressive Party.

Party President, Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee, said such an act in the Federation requires the consent of the Sabah Legislative Assembly and the Conference of Rulers, as stipulated in Article 2 of the Malaysian Constitution.

 

"The only one time that such consent under Article 2 was given was on March 8, 1984 when the Federal Territory of Labuan Enactment 1984 was passed in the State Legislative Assembly.

"It was one of the major acts of the then (Berjaya) State Government that caused its downfall the following year," he said in a statement, Monday.

He said the territory of Malaysia consisted of the territories of all the states in the country.

"It was only when Sabah (then North Borneo) together with Sarawak, Singapore and Malaya formed Malaysia in 1963, that the Malaysian territorial map was enlarged to include the Borneo states and their territories that came with historical rights," Yong pointed out.

"This territory included the Sipadan and Ligitan islands and the seas now known as Block L and M in the Petronas off shore plans."

Former Premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed had disclosed that Malaysia's right to Block L and M is based on historical right and that the loss of these blocks has made Malaysia lose RM320 billion in oil in an area the size of the states of Perlis, Penang, Melaka and Selangor combined.

Yong said towards this end, Sabahans wanted to know, among others, if the Chief Minister and his Cabinet knew about this "surrender of its maritime territory" by then Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

"What is the State Government going to do about this loss of territory and potential oil royalties? Based on the present five per cent the royalties are worth RM16 billion," Yong said.

"Did the Federal Ministers from Sabah know? What was their stand?

"Has treason been committed by the then Prime Minister and his Cabinet for surrendering national territory without the necessary approvals of Parliament, State Legislative Assembly and the Conference of Rulers?

"Why was there haste in surrendering the territory just weeks before a change of Prime Minister in March 2009? Are the boundaries of Blocks L and M clearly demarcated by lines joining geographical coordinates in a certified map at the National Mapping Malaysia and the Sabah Department of Land and Survey?"

Yong called on the State Government to make public the terms and conditions of the surrender of Blocks L and M and also publish the map of Sabah that includes its maritime territories.

"Claim compensation from the Federal Government for the loss of Sabah's maritime territory, shipping rights, fisheries and other resources in the area (and) claim from the Federal Government compensation of RM16 billion.

"(Also) ensure that any future treaties and international agreements affecting Sabah require the explicit and official consent of the State Government. We must not allow a precedent for the Federal Government to sell of chunks of Sabah to foreign countries."