Sabah Pakatan to sue finance minister over 40pc tax revenue remarks
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KOTA KINABALU, March 25 — Sabah Pakatan Harapan (PH Sabah) has expressed dissatisfaction with the response of Federal Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz in the Dewan Rakyat stating that the 40 per cent federal revenue allocation formula in Sabah under Article 112 C and D no longer applies because there is a new agreement reached between the Sabah government and the federal government.
“PH Sabah will take legal action to challenge the validity of the Federal Finance Minister’s explanation, not to mention the new agreement that was made during the emergency period, which was between 1969 and 1971 and involved government gazettes that were kept secret from Sabahans,” read a joint statement by United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (Upko) president cum Amanah Sabah chairman Datuk Seri Panglima Madius Tangau, PKR Sabah chairperson Datuk Christina Liew and DAP Sabah chairman Datuk Frankie Poon today.
They also said that PH Sabah welcomed the spirit of Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor when delivering a speech at the Sabah State Assembly on March 24, that the Sabah government will continue to fight for 40 per cent of the federal revenue in Sabah.
“However, PH Sabah does not want to see it as just a political rhetoric and gives a period of one month to the Sabah Government to get revenue as stated in Article 112 C&D of the Federal Constitution, which is based on the 40 per cent formula or better negotiations.
“If the Sabah government fails to recover revenue based on the 40 per cent formula within a month, PH Sabah, especially our members of parliament and state assemblymen, will not hesitate to take legal action in court to challenge this matter,” they said in the statement.
They added that PH Sabah is of the opinion that if it is true that there is a government gazette that was kept secret from the people of Sabah regarding the provision of 40 per cent of the revenue and made during the emergency period, it is a form of fraud on the formation of Negara Malaysia through the 1963 Malaysia Agreement.
“PH Sabah will continue to uphold the Federal Constitution of Malaysia and the State Constitution of Sabah to claim the rights of Sabah as in the 1963 Malaysia Agreement.
“Following this, PH Sabah decided to hold a forum involving legal practitioners with concerned Sabahans to discuss the Federal Government’s failure to fulfill revenue based on the 40 per cent formula as per the Constitution and issues specifically related to Article 112 of the C&D,” their statement stated.
It was also mentioned that the PH Sabah Sabah Leadership Council met at the Upko headquarters today to discuss issues of concern to the people of Sabah. — Borneo Post Online