Sarawak Pakatan Harapan will make recommendations to the federal cabinet for Malaysia Day, which falls on Sept 16, to be celebrated in Kuching.

Its chairperson Chong Chieng Jen (photo above), who is also domestic trade and consumer affairs deputy minister, said having the national level celebration in Sarawak this time around was also in line with the spirit of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) and the importance being placed on its implementation.

“This is quite significant as Sept 16 is a symbol of the day - a national celebration by the federal government.

“The first national-level celebration by the Harapan government was held in Sabah last year, involving the whole cabinet,” he told a press conference after chairing the Sarawak Harapan meeting at the DAP headquarters in Kuching today.

Also present were Sarawak PKR chairperson, Baru Bian, who is also works minister; Sarawak Amanah chairperson Mohamad Fidzuan Zaidi and Sarawak Bersatu operations director Zakaria Bujang.

Chong, who is Sarawak DAP chairperson, said the state Harapan at today’s meeting unanimously decided to make the recommendations to the cabinet.

At last year’s Malaysia Day celebration in Kota Kinabalu, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohathir said restoring Sabah and Sarawak’s status as equal partners was in line with MA63, which saw him tabling the Constitutional Amendment Bill on April 9.

However, the bill failed to get two-thirds majority support as 59 MPs, including from Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), had abstained from voting.

Chong said members of the cabinet steering committee for MA63 last met on May 17, and together with the working committee for MA63 and another six cluster groups, were working towards the MA63 implementation.

- Bernama