States and federal territories of Malaysia
In conjunction with the celebration of Malaysia Day in 2018 under the new Pakatan Harapan (PH) government, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has promised to restore Sabah and Sarawak status in the Malaysian federation in accordance with the Malaysia Agreement, changing "their status from merely a state to an equal partner of the Malayan states". Although the status of both entities were clearly defined in Article I, Malaysia Agreement 1963 as 'states' which shall be federated with the existing states of the Federation of Malaya. However, through the process of the amendment, the bill failed to pass following the failure to reach two-thirds majority support (148 votes) in the Parliament with only 138 agreed with the move while 59 abstained from the voting. Nevertheless, the Malaysian federal government agreed to review the 1963 agreement to remedy breaches of the treaty with the "Special Cabinet Committee To Review the Malaysia Agreement" and directed a Special Task Force Team (Taskforce MA63) to prepare a final report on the 1963 agreement before 31 August 2019.