Anwar: Appeal not over Sabah's 40pct ruling, but court's 'inaccurate' findings

Summary

• PM emphasises that govt only appealing ‘inaccurate’ statements in the court ruling, otherwise, past govts since 1974 risk getting a penalty.

• Treasury will be writing to the caretaker state govt today to begin technical discussions ahead of negotiations after the state election, he adds.

PARLIAMENT | The federal government will only appeal the Kota Kinabalu High Court's ruling that claimed Putrajaya and the Sabah government had made major mistakes since 1974, said Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

He told the Dewan Rakyat this morning that this will not affect the ruling over Sabah's entitlement to a 40 percent share of federal revenue collected from the state.

The court's decision had found the federal government, Sabah government and MPs in the government "illegal, irrational, procedurally improper, and neglectful of their responsibilities to the state of Sabah,” he said.

"I emphasise, I don't want this to become a political polemic on the question of the 40 percent (revenue rights), because that is not being appealed, but statements that we consider as inconsistent and inaccurate must be appealed.

"If not, without an appeal, the ruling could mean a penalty on the governments since 1974... the federal government, all government members, and (former Sabah chief ministers) Datu Mustapha Datu Harun and Fuad Stephens, since 1974 in Sabah, (as well as) all governments and all parties involved," he said.

On Tuesday, the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) announced that Putrajaya will not appeal the court ruling affirming Sabah’s entitlement to a 40 percent share of federal revenue collected from the state.

The Oct 17 ruling was over a judicial review filed by the Sabah Law Society (SLS) against the government.

READ MORE: KINIGUIDE | What High Court's 40pct revenue ruling means for Sabah

In a statement, the AGC said the federal government respects the constitutional principle of the “special grant” under Article 112C of the Federal Constitution and has agreed to proceed with negotiations with the Sabah government.

The court also ordered the federal and state governments to review and settle within 180 days arrears for the “lost years” from 1974 to 2021, when no review of Sabah's share of revenue was carried out.

Kickstarting negotiations

Anwar informed the lower house that the Treasury secretary-general will be writing to the Sabah caretaker government today to begin discussions on technical matters ahead of negotiations.

"Of course, we would have to wait until the (Sabah) election is over and the new government is formed.

"But I don't think it (the election) prevents technical discussions first to facilitate negotiations," he added.

Sabah voters will be casting their ballots on Nov 29, two weeks after nomination day this Saturday.

Anwar again took the opportunity to point out that the federal government was already allocating more to Sabah than the federal revenue collected from the state.

He previously said the federal allocation is RM17 billion, whereas revenue collection from Sabah is RM10 billion.

However, critics have pointed out that under Article 112C of the Federal Constitution, the 40 percent revenue share is supposed to be paid in the form of a special grant - which Sabah would have full control over.

In Budget 2026, Anwar said the special grant for Sabah would be RM600 million.

Based on the RM10 billion figure cited by Anwar, the 40 percent revenue special grant would be RM4 billion.

Anwar has repeatedly cited the RM600 million as proof of how his government has allocated more to Sabah than any past administration.

Reporting by Zarrah Morden, Qistina Nadia Dzulqarnain, Haspaizi Zain

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