PETALING JAYA – Tuaran MP Wilfred Madius Tangau has called for the restoration of Article 122AA of the Federal Constitution to its original form, arguing that the 1994 amendment stripped the governors of Sabah and Sarawak of their authority to appoint High Court judges for their respective states.
Tangau stated that the current form of Article 122AA does not align with the 1963 Malaysia Agreement (MA63) or the Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) report. According to these agreements, any constitutional amendment affecting Sabah and Sarawak should require the consent of both state governments.
“However, the federal government at the time amended the constitution without securing Sabah and Sarawak’s consent. As a result, the amendment remains in limbo today as it does not comply with MA63, particularly the IGC report,” he said while debating the Constitutional (Amendment) Bill 2025.
Tangau recalled that when he previously questioned the constitutionality of the provision in the Dewan Rakyat, then-law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar – now the Sarawak governor – suggested referring the matter to the courts. However, Tangau argued that constitutional mistakes should be corrected within Parliament itself.
Drawing a parallel to the Constitutional (Amendment) Bill 2025, which seeks to restore Parliament’s control over its administration, he insisted that Article 122AA should also be reinstated to empower the governors of Sabah and Sarawak in judicial appointments.
“This is precisely what I mean by correcting past mistakes – we must restore things to their rightful state,” the former Upko president added.
The 1963 Parliamentary Services Act, which granted Parliament control over its administration, was repealed in 1992, placing its administration under the civil service, a move critics say weakened its independence. The Constitutional (Amendment) Bill 2025, forming the basis of the Parliamentary Services Bill 2025, was passed in the Dewan Rakyat today with a two-thirds majority after its second and third readings.