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Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh
KUCHING (November 10): Opposition leader Sarawak Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh has urged members of the august House to oppose a proposed amendment to the Sarawak Constitution to define “resident in the status “in order to qualify for DUN election.
Described the move to amend article 16 of the Sarawak Constitution to define ‘resident in the state’ as’ citizen belonging to the state of Sarawak in accordance with Section 71 of the Immigration Act 1959/63 [Act 155]’as inappropriate.
Article 16 of the Sarawak Constitution applies to the requirements for election to DUN. It establishes that any citizen 21 years of age or older and a resident of the state may be elected unless disqualified by other provisions of the federal or state Constitution.
Wong, who is an assemblyman for Bawang Assan, said he supported the 2020 Sarawak State Constitution (Amendment) bill, proposed to lower the age for election to DUN to 18, but not his move to define ‘state resident’.
He said the term was not defined in the Sarawak Constitution, but could be interpreted as someone who always resided here, not just for two years, which was an insignificant period.
“That is, the current constitution does not specify a period of residence to qualify for the election to the State Legislative Assembly (DUN),” said Parti Sarawak Bersatu president when debating the Sarawak State Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2020 during the DUN session this morning.
He explained that Section 71 of the Immigration Law establishes that for the purposes of Section 66 of the same law, a citizen will be treated as belonging to a state of East Malaysia if during the previous two years he has been a permanent resident in the state of Malaysia. East Malaysia. .
“A reading of this section 66 of the Immigration Act reveals that it is only for ‘Restricting the right of entry of citizens to an East Malaysian state’; it only has to do with entry to Sarawak and has absolutely nothing to do with the right to be elected a member of the Dewan Undangan Negeri.
“The difference between the two is staggering.
“It is totally improper to equate the ‘right of entry to Sarawak’ with the ‘right of choice to Dewan Undangan Negeri.’ It is impossible to imagine that the right to be an elected member of this august House is reduced to the equivalent of the right of entry to Sarawak, “said Wong.
He felt that the Gabungan Parti Sarawak government’s proposal to redefine the term “state resident” went against his claim to fight for the rights of Sarawak and care for the people of Sarawak.
“This proposed amendment goes totally against their rhetoric. If they really care about the rights of Sarawak, they would not reduce the election rights for the DUN to the right of entry to Sarawak. “
He pointed out that if GPS really wanted to amend the state constitution to protect Sarawak’s rights, they should amend it to restrict the right of choice to DUN only to Malaysian citizens who were ‘born in Sarawak’.
“That is, making it impossible for a non-Sarawak person to be elected to the DUN rather than making it easier,” he added.
Questioning the government’s motive behind the proposed amendment, Wong asked, “Why make it easy for non-Sarawakians to be elected to the DUN? Is this the first step in allowing non-Sarawak people to be elected to the DUN? “
He said granting a non-Sarawak person permanent resident status for two years would make that person eligible for the Sarawak DUN election if the proposed constitutional amendment is passed.
“This is a total betrayal of the rights of the people of Sarawak by the government of GPS,” he said, and asked members of the august House to unite and disregard their political division in rejecting the amendment to the draft law.
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