Withholding Sabah’s special grant against MA63, says activist
Instead of waiting for the country’s financial position to improve, he said, the federal government should consider first and foremost its obligation to pay Sabah its dues.
(FMT) – A political activist here has accused Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng of breaching the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) following further delays to the 40% payment of net revenue derived from the state.
Zainnal Ajamain, an MA63 activist and economist, said the federal government was obliged to pay Sabah the 40%.
“Any payment to Sabah is no longer a promise made by the federal government in MA63,” he told FMT. “It is an obligation included in the Federal Constitution under Article 112C (1)(a) which uses the word ‘shall’ for ‘each financial year’.
“This means it is an annual obligation that the federal government must fulfil each year.”
Lim had said the federal government would eventually pay Sabah its dues, but only when the country’s financial situation improves.
Although acknowledging that the special grant was Sabah’s constitutional right, Lim said if the federal government suffered from financial troubles, all other states including Sabah would be affected as well.
But Zainnal said it did not matter whether the federal government had enough money or not.
“This can be considered a breach of MA63. Every member of the federal Cabinet has sworn to protect and uphold the Federal Constitution.”
Failure to pay Sabah 40% of the revenue collected from the state was also a breach of Annex A of MA63, he added.
Instead of waiting for the country’s financial position to improve, he said, the federal government should consider first and foremost its obligation to pay Sabah its dues.
He noted the government’s statement that it had saved RM15 billion after reviewing the LRT3 project, as well as another RM9 billion from the MRT2 project.
“The national budget for 2019 is RM314 billion, but the federal government can only provide Sabah with RM5 billion. This is not even part of the 40% revenue to be given back to Sabah,” he added.
He also spoke of the apparent discrimination against Sabah in the context of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), which Putrajaya recently said it would not ratify.
He said if the ICERD had been ratified, the federal government would not be able to withhold payments to Sabah anymore.
“This is because the people of Sabah could then take their complaints directly to the United Nations (UN) without having to get at least two UN members as sponsors,” he added.
But even without the ICERD, he said, Sabahans and Sarawakians could always get resolutions from London.
He also proposed that the federal government allow the state government to collect all taxes in Sabah.
“The Sabah government retains 40% as provided for in the Federal Constitution, and gives 60% to the federal government.
“This may give the federal government some breathing space, but it does not absolve them from paying all the arrears since 1964, including interest,” he added.
