The Native Solidarity of Sabah or PAN Sabah wants the Sabah government to pursue and restore all rights guaranteed under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
In a statement signed by its chairperson Esther Golingi, PAN Sabah said: “MA63 is our inheritance. Have we been responsible in guarding our rights as a sovereign nation under the same? If our past leaders have not been vigilant, it is not too late for us to wake up now, unite and reclaim our lost rights!”
PAN Sabah said those who ridiculed the call for the restoration of their rights under MA63 were oblivious to the real circumstances of the formation of Malaysia.
“We are not calling for Sabah to exit from Malaysia as some quarters may think. All we ask for is for the truth of MA63 to be established in Sabah so that the proper process of self-determination of the nation of Sabah can be said to have been completed.”
The statement said it had to be recognised that Sabah was not a state and that Malaysia consisted of three nations – Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak.
“This is the truth and it is crucial that the authority of each sovereign nation be restored in accordance with MA63. The process of this restoration must be transparent and seen to be done.”
PAN Sabah also took a swipe at the federal government for allegedly working to change the demographics of Sabah through the National Registration Department.
Saying the people of Sabah were furious at how the NRD was treating Sabahans in the issuance of birth certificates and MyKads, it said the Sabah government should take over the work being done by the NRD, and also take control of immigration.
PAN Sabah said: “The federal government’s incessant drive to change the demographics of Sabah to an atrociously abnormal level has caused huge damage to the lives of our people.
“Thousands of Sabahans, especially our natives in the rural areas, are suffering from the effects of an imposed identity, especially religious identity in their birth certificates and MyKads.
“NRD’s drive to increase the false statistics of Muslim population in Sabah is simply deplorable. Faith is a personal matter and our religious identity should not be dictated by NRD.”
PAN Sabah stressed it was not against Islam but against “compulsion, coercion and deception” that was disrupting the internal harmony of Sabah society.
It said policies that sought to regulate their freedom of religion and religious identity were in clear breach of MA63.
Giving some detail, it said Sabahans complained that the NRD’s practise of insisting that a child should assume the racial and religious identity of the Muslim parent, and that the child should inherit the racial identity of only one parent, was against MA63.
“NRD’s system cannot work in Sabah and frankly has failed Sabahans. We want a new system of identification for multi-ethnic Sabahans. Our people’s religious freedom and heritage must be respected. To deny our true identity is to deny our existence. The government of Sabah must take charge of these matters now.”
PAN Sabah also asked what had happened to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Illegal Immigrants in Sabah. It wants to know how the government plans to tackle this issue.
The group also said it would stand behind all elected representatives who opposed the bill to enhance shariah law that has become known as Hadi’s Bill.