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The non-compliance by both the State and Federal Government on the 18 July deadline to settle Sabah’s 2/5 (40%) tax revenue entitlement under Article 112C and Article 112D of the Federal Constitution is a total disappointment for all.
It now begets the question of whether the non-compliance was purposely done with the intention to delay the settlement or whether the pursuing party is too weak to assert itself due to credibility issue. Either way, settlement must be made irrespective of the political ideologies or beliefs held by both sides the same way a Sabahan is expected to pay his/her water bill on time or risk disconnection.
The revelation by Datuk Yap Pak Leong in his talk organized by SABAR on 13 July that the entitlement is one of the reason why Sabah agreed to form Malaysia together with Malaya, Singapore and Sarawak reflect it’s importance along with MA63 and other preceding documents as well that led to the formation of the Federation.
Political parties and politicians will come and go and if the Malays have their Sultans as the guardians to look after their wellbeing and interests, then in a similar way, we Sabahans have these written documents and other agreed arrangements incorporated into the Federal Constitution as our guardian. Hence, implementation is of utmost necessity and there should be no more delay in this matter!
Warisan believe MA63 and all other agreed arrangements as our ‘Sultan’ thus it only took us 17 months to restore MA63 back to its throne by sorting out 17 of the 21 Issues of MA63 and should Sheraton Move never happened, then all issues would have been settled permanently by now.
But the same cannot be said of the current State and Federal Government where we are being fed with ball-passing, blame-game and dramas but ultimately, nothing conclusive have been achieved after more than 4 years despite the fact that Sabah Government is equally being represented in the Majlis Tindakan Perlaksanaan MA63 (MTPMA63) thru several of its State Cabinet Ministers.
The non-compliance and the unreasonable delay of 4 years now necessitate the establishment of a special body to monitor both the Federal and State Government including MTPMA63 to prevent any more hiccup or even potential deviation from the original intention and spirit of MA63 and other agreed arrangements as pointed out by Datuk Yap.
Thus, I call upon the establishment of Parliament’s Special Select Committee on MA63 to be participated by both the Government and Opposition MPs from Sabah and Sarawak to ensure such implementation is free from any political manipulation or suppression that eventually will erode Sabah’s rights and interests especially in terms of special financial arrangements.
The Parliament currently has 10 Special Select Committees that monitor specific issues and agendas that are considered as priorities for the country and obviously, MA63 and all other agreed arrangements are priority too in view that these are the reasons why we have the Federation of Malaysia today.
Chin Tek Ming
Solicitor for Parti Warisan
19 July 2024
