KOTA KINABALU, 3 Feb 2018:
Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman today threw out any insinuation that Sabah was others’ for the taking – putting his foot down to nail the fact the state belonged to Malaysia and Malaysia alone.
He reiterated Malaysia’s stance that it did not recognise and would not entertain any claims against Sabah by any party.
“Some people asked why I don’t I do something. Why don’t I have a discussion or dialogue or anything or bring the matter to the international level. Actually if we want to negotiate with them, discuss with them, it means we recognise their claim.
“So I said, Sabah is independent within Malaysia. It has been recognised by the United Nations since 1963. So there is no case to answer or there is nothing to talk about. The position of the Malaysian government is very consistent that we do not recognise any claim on Sabah.”
Anifah, who is also Kimanis, said this at Foreign Ministry-media gathering yesterday – in response to certain opposition leaders in Sabah including MPs who questioned why the Malaysian government did not do anything to resolve the issue.
In fact, he said, during his meetings with the former Philippines Foreign Secretary, he refused point blank to discuss any claim issue.
“I told him, we do not recognise any claim on Sabah. Full stop,” he said. “I want to ask you, is it a coincidence that this thing (claim on Sabah) comes up again during the election time?
“Is there someone trying to send a message to us or to certain leaders or some leaders? And is it also a signal that, maybe, for the support to go one direction? This is what concerns me.”
On the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) which had also been made an issue by the opposition, Anifah said Sabah leaders were rightly the ones to champion the state’s rights and in this regard, he was able to do so by virtue of his membership in the government.
“I feel very, very comfortable and I know the prime minister (Datuk Seri Najib Razak) very well. I feel very comfortable because he said ‘any rights of Sabah’s that has not been implemented will be returned to the People of Sabah’.
“The only prime minister that acknowledged Sabah’s rights is Najib.”
– Bernama