No Record To Show Warisan Resolved 17 Claims In MA63 - Armizan

KOTA KINABALU, Nov 23 (Bernama) -- There is no record to show that Parti Warisan succeeded in resolving the 17 claims in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) throughout the period the party led the Sabah government from 2018 to 2020.

Minister of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali said he has heard this claim by Warisan since 2023, and it has now resurfaced as a campaign tool for the party ahead of the 17th Sabah State Election (PRN).

Armizan, who previously served as Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Sabah, Sarawak Affairs and Special Functions) and headed the MA63 Secretariat in the Sabah and Sarawak Affairs Division, said that based on the Secretariat's documents, there is no evidence to show that the 17 matters had been fully resolved.

"I raised this question with Warisan in 2023, and eventually, the response was that they were not yet resolved, but had been agreed upon. Now, leading up to the state election, they are again capitalising on the 'success of 17' in MA63.

"I stress that the MA63 issue is important for Sabah and should not be exploited as a political tool in this PRN," he said in a statement tonight.

He said that in government administration, phrases like 'agreement in principle' or 'policy approval' do not mean that a matter has been fully approved as demanded, and more importantly, not everything that is agreed in principle will be implemented.

Armizan, who led the MA63 Secretariat for one year from December 2022 to December 2023, said he himself was unsure what the 17 matters claimed as successful by Warisan were and left it to the party to explain them.

He also shared that during his one-year tenure leading the secretariat, five matters were discussed, agreed upon, and implemented through various official instruments.

The polling day for the 17th Sabah State Election is set for Nov 29, and early voting on Nov 25. For the latest news on the Sabah PRN, visit https://prn.bernama.com/sabah/index.php.

-- BERNAMA