KUCHING: Sarawak's status as a region of Malaysia is still a proposal and has not been gazetted, says Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.
The Sarawak Premier said he would bring up the matter in a meeting on the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim that is scheduled to take place here next week.
"We will see how it goes. We have a meeting with the Federal Government on Jan 19 and we will ask them about it," he said when asked if the change of status from state to region had been gazetted.
Abang Johari was speaking to reporters after launching the Kuching car free morning programme at Padang Merdeka here on Sunday (Jan 15).
On Friday (Jan 13), Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamid said in his policy speech at the Umno general assembly that Sabah and Sarawak were now accorded the status of regions instead of states within Malaysia, However, Abang Johari said this was just a suggestion.
He added that Sarawak should have been recognised as a region since Malaysia's formation in 1963.
"The situation has changed after 60 years. This is why we amended the Federal Constitution, so that what is now stated in the constitution takes into account MA63 and the Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) report.
"We are a region. That is why we changed the position of chief minister to premier," Abang Johari said.
