Sabah Harapan warns legal action over 40pct revenue claims
Sabah Pakatan Harapan has threatened legal action against the Perikatan Nasional-led state government unless Chief Minister Hajiji Mohd Noor succeeds in reclaiming Sabah’s right to 40 percent of its tax revenue from Putrajaya.
The Harapan leaders from Upko, PKR, DAP and Amanah cited a response by Finance Minister....
Sabah Pakatan Harapan has threatened legal action against the Perikatan Nasional-led state government unless Chief Minister Hajiji Mohd Noor succeeds in reclaiming Sabah’s right to 40 percent of its tax revenue from Putrajaya.
The Harapan leaders from Upko, PKR, DAP and Amanah cited a response by Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz in the Dewan Rakyat that Sabah’s right to 40 percent of its own tax revenue, which was enshrined in the 1963 Malaysia Agreement (MA63), was no longer applied.
"Harapan Sabah will take legal action to challenge the validity of the explanation given by the finance minister.
"What more the new agreement cited was reached during the emergency period between 1969 and 1971 involving a government gazette kept secret from the people of Sabah," they said.
The joint statement was signed by Upko president Wilfred Madius Tangau, Sabah PKR chairperson Christina Liew, Sabah DAP chairperson Dr Frankie Poon and Sabah Amanah chairperson Lahirul Latigu.
Continue to fight
The leaders further said they welcomed Hajiji's (above) statement in the Sabah state assembly yesterday that his administration will continue to fight for the 40 percent tax revenue.
"However, Sabah Harapan do not want to see it left as political rhetoric.
"We are giving the government one month to reclaim the revenue as stated under Article 112(C) and 112(D) of the federal constitution, based on a 40 percent formula or a better deal," they said.
"If the Sabah government failed to recover the tax revenue in a month, Sabah Harapan, specifically our MPs and assemblypersons, will not hesitate to challenge the matter in court.”
They also added that Sabah Harapan is of the view that if it was true there exists a government gazette made during the emergency and kept secret from the people regarding the 40 percent tax revenue, it is a form of deception on the formation of Malaysia through the Malaysia Agreement 1963.”
Correct procedure
The 40 percent tax revenue for Sabah was also raised by Warisan MPs in the Dewan Rakyat sitting that ended yesterday.
Sepanggar MP Azis Jamman had claimed that amendments to the Federal Constitution involving rights and interests of the Sabah state were made without following the correct procedure.
Azis had based his allegation on the Finance Ministry’s response to his earlier claim that Zafrul had misled the Dewan Rakyat.
Azis had said, along with this answer, he also received a document in the form of a government gazette that was classified as confidential.
Prior to this, on March 22, Azis was reported to have referred Zafrul to the Parliamentary Rights and Freedoms Committee for allegedly issuing a misleading statement on the said tax to the Dewan Rakyat.
He said Zafrul responded that the return of 40 percent of Sabah’s own net revenue collection was no longer applicable and this contradicted the statement by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah and Sarawak Affairs) Maximus Ongkili that the matter had not yet been discussed.
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