Awang pointed to what happened in Sabah when Labuan was turned into a federal territory in 1984.
“When Labuan became a federal territory, it caused public uproar,” he told FMT when contacted.
As a result, the BN state government, led by then Sabah chief minister Harris Salleh, suffered a surprising defeat in the 1985 state election.
“Converting an area as a federal territory isn’t as simple as it seems. Harris lost in the elections despite being popular among the people.”
He was commenting on Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor’s idea of expanding the federal territories to include Penang, Langkawi island and parts of Malacca.
Adnan had floated the idea during an interview on a BFM radio show on Feb 1, in conjunction with Federal Territory Day.
Meanwhile, a political scientist from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Faisal Syam Hazis, dismissed the idea as another of Adnan’s impractical suggestions made through the media.
“He has said so many things that are not practical, and this is just one of them. Even his previous statement on banning kapchais (motorbikes) from entering KL, backfired on him.”
Faisal said the proposal could be considered if the BN-led government had a strong position.
“But now, we have a weakened federal government and many other issues across the country. I don’t think it will be wise to continue with the proposal.”
Presently, there are three FTs – Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan. The first two were formerly part of Selangor while Labuan was taken over from Sabah.
Kuala Lumpur, the former capital of Selangor, was made a FT in 1974. Labuan was made a FT in 1984 and later turned into an offshore financial centre, while Putrajaya was made a FT, and has been the country’s administrative capital, since 2001.