18-point agreement

The 18-point agreement, or the 18-point memorandum, was a purported list of 18 points drawn up by Sarawak, proposing terms to form Malaysia, during negotiations prior to the creation of the new federation in 1963. Unlike the Sabah's 20-point memorandum whose authors are known and well documented, no such details have been produced for the so-called Sarawak 18-points memorandum.

A Commission of Enquiry, headed by Lord Cameron Cobbold, and The Lansdowne Committee, an inter-governmental committee, were appointed to aid in the drafting of the Malaysia Agreement. Lord Lansdowne served for Britain and Tun Abdul Razak, Deputy Prime Minister of the Federation of Malaya, served for Malaya.^[1] A similar memorandum, known as the 20-point agreement, was prepared and submitted by North Borneo.

The 18-point agreement, Malaysia Agreement (MA63), and Inter-government committee (IGC) report often serves as a focal point amongst those who argue that Sarawak's rights within the federation have been eroded over time.^[2] Questions remain whether these pre-constitutional or foundational documents can be defined as "law" and legally enforceable under Article 160 of the Constitution of Malaysia. Shad Saleem Faruqi, professor of law at the University of Malaya, however, stated that such pre-constitutional documents had been used in other parts of the world to interpret the constitution and domestic laws.^[3] In 2021 amendment to the Constitution of Malaysia, Article 160 (2) of the federal constitution was amended with the new definition of the term "federation" where the Malaysian federation is formed in accordance to the 1963 Malaysian agreement in addition to 1957 Malaya agreement.^[4] Maximus Ongkili, minister in Prime Minister's department argued that such amendment gives legal basis to other pre-constitutional documents such as 18-point agreement, 20-point agreement and IGC report because these documents are found as appendices under MA63 and Malaysia Act 1963.^[5]

^ Bastin, John Sturgus (1979). Malaysia; Selected Historical Readings. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 9783262012165.
^ Chin, James (2019). Minorities Matter: Malaysian Politics and People Volume III - The 1963 Malaysia Agreement (MA63): Sabah and Sarawak and the Politics of Historical Grievances. ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute. pp. 74–90. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
^ Faruqi, Shad Saleem (16 September 2021). "CONSTITUTIONAL SAFEGUARDS FOR SABAH & SARAWAK'S AUTONOMY" (PDF). University of Malaya. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 May 2023. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
^ Zahid, Syed Jamal (14 December 2021). "Dewan Rakyat finally passes key constitutional amendments to recognise MA63". The Malay Mail. Archived from the original on 15 April 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
^ Mu, Paul (15 December 2021). "MA63 now has legal basis after amendment to Federal Constitution". New Straits Times. Archived from the original on 2 December 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2023.

[Lansdowne_Committee-1] Bastin, John Sturgus (1979). Malaysia; Selected Historical Readings. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 9783262012165.

[Chin_2019-2] Chin, James (2019). Minorities Matter: Malaysian Politics and People Volume III - The 1963 Malaysia Agreement (MA63): Sabah and Sarawak and the Politics of Historical Grievances. ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute. pp. 74–90. Retrieved 3 May 2023.

[3] Faruqi, Shad Saleem (16 September 2021). "CONSTITUTIONAL SAFEGUARDS FOR SABAH & SARAWAK'S AUTONOMY" (PDF). University of Malaya. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 May 2023. Retrieved 3 May 2023.

[4] Zahid, Syed Jamal (14 December 2021). "Dewan Rakyat finally passes key constitutional amendments to recognise MA63". The Malay Mail. Archived from the original on 15 April 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2023.

[5] Mu, Paul (15 December 2021). "MA63 now has legal basis after amendment to Federal Constitution". New Straits Times. Archived from the original on 2 December 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2023.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]