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I refer to the statement by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department for Sabah and Sarawak Affairs, Datuk Ts. Mustapha Sakmud that the RM1.5 billion interim special grant to Sabah will “transition into a guaranteed annual disbursement” once tabled in Parliament and gazetted with the Agong’s consent.
While I welcome any increase from the previous RM600 million, I cannot share the Minister’s confidence that this arrangement is secure for the long term. A gazette is not a constitutional entrenchment. What is gazetted by this Parliament can be un-gazetted, amended or simply not renewed by a future Parliament — through the exact same procedure Mustapha describes today. This is a fundamental difference from Sabah and Sarawak’s 40% net revenue entitlement, which is anchored in the Federal Constitution itself. The interim payment is not. It is an administrative allocation that lives or dies by the political will of whichever coalition controls Putrajaya.
A Grant Built on Sand
Larry Sng has already warned of a possible change in the Federal Government with BN/PN achieving the simple majority and this could put the arrangement at risk. Should BN/PN or any other coalition form the next Federal Government and argue — as they well might — that mounting federal debt during PMX’s tenure requires further cuts to healthcare, education, and defence allocations, what mechanism will stops them from quietly reducing Sabah’s interim grant from RM1.5 billion to, say, RM400 million? None that I can see. And because this interim arrangement affects Sabah alone, not Sarawak, the GRS leaders will be unable to resist such pressure — Sabah would simply have to accept whatever terms Putrajaya sets.
Why I Doubt the Political Commitment Behind It
It is worth remembering how Sabah arrived at this point. Umno/BN’s Devolution of Powers Committee, jointly chaired by Anifah Aman and Nancy Shukri, opened the conversation on MA63 — but MA63 activists have long regarded that committee as cosmetic rather than substantive. It was only during Warisan’s tenure in 2018 that the 40% entitlement and MA63 were taken up seriously at the highest levels of both State and Federal Government, through a joint committee whose participants — Sarawak parties, Warisan and Pakatan Harapan, which had affirmed MA63 in its Buku Jingga — had actually campaigned on these issues before GE14. That continuity of commitment is why the matter has stayed alive to this day, despite the Sheraton Move interrupting what might otherwise have been a settlement within five years.
Anwar Ibrahim however was never part of that MA63 pre-GE14 campaign; he was in prison while it took shape. I do not say this to attack him personally, but it explains, in my view, why his government’s commitment to the 40% entitlement feels transactional rather than rooted in conviction. The clearest evidence of that gap is his own government’s decision to appeal the Sabah High Court’s ruling on the entitlement — hardly the posture of an administration that considers the matter settled in Sabah’s favour.
Regardless of the Prime Minister’s personal history, the Federal Government’s decision to appeal the Sabah High Court ruling sends a stronger signal than any public assurance.
More broadly, I believe some Federal-centric leaders from Malaya tend to view Sabah and Sarawak’s constitutional privileges, including the 40% entitlement, as outdated arrangements that sit awkwardly with their preference for treating all states as equal or ranking them by development rather than by constitutional history. That worldview does not inspire confidence that any non-constitutional grant to Sabah will be protected once fiscal pressure mounts.
What Would Change My Mind
Assurances are not guarantees. For me to treat this commitment as durable rather than provisional, one of the following needs to happen:
- The Federal Government withdraws its appeal against the Sabah High Court decision on the 40% entitlement (we do not want the next Government to continue using the same appeal to delay the settlement); or
- The Federal Government settles the outstanding arrears from 2022 onward; or
- The interim payment itself — at no less than RM1.5 billion — is written into the Federal Constitution for a clearly defined period while the final settlement negotiations continue.
Of utmost importance is that the 40% entitlement derives from Article 112C and the Tenth Schedule of the Federal Constitution, whereas the interim RM1.5 billion payment does not have equivalent constitutional status.
Absent any of these, today’s gazette is only as strong as the next general election result. I hope to be proven wrong. But hope is not a substitute for a constitutional guarantee, and Sabahans have waited too long to accept assurances at face value.
Christopher Masudal
State Strategic Communication Director
Parti Warisan
