20-point agreement


The 20-point agreement, or the 20-point memorandum, is a list of 20 points drawn up by North Borneo, proposing terms for its incorporation into the new federation as the State of Sabah, during negotiations prior to the formation of Malaysia. In the Malaysia Bill of the Malaysia Agreement some of the twenty points were incorporated, to varying degrees, into what became the Constitution of Malaysia; others were merely accepted orally, thus not gaining legal status. The 20-point agreement often serves as a focal point amongst those who argue that Sabah's rights within the Federation have been eroded over time.

Background

Under an agreement signed between Great Britain and the Federation of Malaya the issue of self-determination with respect to the peoples of North Borneo and Sarawak formed a challenge to the formation of the Federation of Malaysia. A Joint Statement issued by the British and Malayan Federal Governments on 23 November 1961 announced that before coming to any final decision it was necessary to ascertain the views of the peoples of North Borneo and Sarawak. It was decided to set up a commission to carry out that task and to make recommendations.
The British Government, working with the Federation of Malaya Government, appointed a Commission of Enquiry for North Borneo and Sarawak in January 1962 to determine if the people supported the proposal to create a Federation of Malaysia. The five-man team, which comprised two Malayans and three British representatives, was headed by Lord Cobbold. An inter-governmental committee was appointed to work out the final details of the Malaysia Agreement. Lord Lansdowne served for Britain and Tun Abdul Razak, Deputy Prime Minister of the Federation of Malaya served for Malaya.
The 20 points were written with a view to safeguarding the interests, rights, and autonomy of the people of North Borneo upon the formation of the federation of Malaysia. A similar proposal, with certain differences in content, was made by Sarawak, and is commonly referred to as the 18-point agreement.
Attention is often drawn to these memoranda by those who believe that their principles were not subsequently adhered to after federation. There have been numerous calls for the 20-point memorandum to be reviewed so as to take into account social, economic, and political changes over time.

Brief timeline of related events

  • 17 January 1962: The Commission of Enquiry was announced to observe the views of the people of Singapore, Sarawak, Brunei and North Borneo.
  • 21 March 1962: At a meeting of the Greater Malaysia Committee there was agreement that it would be preferable to wait for the Cobbold Commission, which had been tasked with assessment of support for the proposal in North Borneo and Sarawak, to complete its report, in order to consider its findings before a decision was made on the federation of Malaysia.
  • 21 June 1962: The Cobbold Report was completed and submitted to the prime ministers of Britain and Malaya. The report concluded that one third fully supported the idea, one third were in favour provided that safeguards were included, and the remaining one third were divided between those who would prefer North Borneo and Sarawak to gain independence prior to the merger and those who rejected the merger outright. The commission's view was - firm support for a federated Malaysia, incorporating a transitional arrangement in which the British would remain for the first few years.
  • 31 July 1962: The British and Malayan governments decided in principle that the proposed Federation of Malaysia should be brought into being by 31 August 1963. An Inter-Governmental Committee was to be formed to work on future constitutional arrangements.
  • August 1962: The Report was published to all parties. Reportedly, this came as a surprise to North Borneo.
  • 13 – 14 August 1962: Donald Stephens convened a meeting of political leaders who drew up a 14-point memorandum of minimum demands. This gained support from Sarawak.
  • 12 & 26 September 1962 : North Borneo and Sarawak legislative council agreed to the formation of Malaysia on condition that state rights were safeguarded.

The 20 points

;Point 1 – Religion
;Point 2 – Language
;Point 3 – Constitution
;Point 4 – Head of Federation
;Point 5 – Name of Federation
;Point 6 – Immigration
;Point 7 – Right of Secession
;Point 8 – Borneanisation
;Point 9 – British Officers
;Point 10 – Citizenship
;Point 11 – Tariffs and Finance
;Point 12 – Special position of indigenous races
;Point 13 – State Government
;Point 14 – Transitional period
;Point 15 – Education
;Point 16 – Constitutional safeguards
;Point 17 – Representation in Federal Parliament
;Point 18 – Name of Head of State
;Point 19 – Name of State
;Point 20 – Land, Forests, Local Government, etc.

Controversies

Point 7: Right of Secession

Article 2 of the Constitution of Malaysia states that the Parliament of Malaysia has the right to change the state boundaries or to admit any new states into the federation. However, there is no provision about the secession of states from the federation. However, former International Islamic University Malaysia academic, Abdul Aziz Bari, said that Article 2 of the Constitution also implies that the Malaysian Parliament has the final say on the secession of a state from the federation, as it did to Singapore in 1965. Besides, any suggestions about secession of Sabah and Sarawak from Malaysia would be punishable under Sedition Act.
Jeniri Amir from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak stated that Sarawak and Sabah has no right to secede from the federation according to Point 7. However, a separatist group led by Doris Jones said that the meaning of the word "should" as in "There should be no right to secede from the Federation" is only a recommendation as opposed to "shall" which implies a command.

Point 18: Name of Head of State

In the Malaysia Agreement, the meaning of the term "Governor" included the title of the Head of State of Sabah, which was "Yang di-Pertua Negara". This term was incorporated into the Constitution of Malaysia from 1963 to 1976. However, the Sarawak head of state was named "Yang di-Pertua Negeri" from 1963.
On 27 August 1976, under Article 160 of the Constitution of Malaysia, the term "Governor" was abolished and replaced with "Yang di-Pertua Negeri". This effectively ended the title of "Yang di-Pertua Negara" of Sabah. The Malay translation of the term "State" of Sabah and Sarawak has been "Negeri" instead of "Negara" since 1963.
Nevertherless, some groups argue that Sabah and Sarawak should be called "Negara", and the head of state called "Yang di-Pertua Negara", on the basis that Sarawak achieved independence on 22 July 1963 and Sabah achieved independence on 31 August 1963 before forming Malaysia together with Federation of Malaya on 16 September 1963. They believe that the head of state of Sabah being known as "Yang di-Pertua Negara" between 1963 and 1976 supports this view.