Anwar, GRS must resolve Sabah’s special grant issue, says analyst

James Chin says the failure to come up with a formula acceptable to Sabahans will cost the prime minister and state’s ruling coalition politically.

(FMT) – The federal and Sabah governments must resolve the state’s entitlement to a special yearly grant, an analyst said, adding that doing so would bring “political incentives” to both.

James Chin of the University of Tasmania said a mutually acceptable resolution would benefit Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim by strengthening his support in East Malaysia, especially given his “shaky” position among Malays in the peninsula.

Anwar’s unity government is currently backed by the ruling coalitions in both Sabah and Sarawak.

Chin said Anwar acceded to most of Gabungan Parti Sarawak’s demands to placate voters in that state. Naturally he now has to resolve Sabah’s special grant demands – “the most important political issue for Sabahans” – in much the same way, he added.

There is no reason why Anwar would want to offend Sabahans, he told FMT.

Chin was commenting after Sabah deputy chief minister Jeffrey Kitingan claimed Putrajaya lacked the commitment needed to put in place a formula for the computation of Sabah’s entitlement under the special grant.

Under the Federal Constitution, Sabah is entitled to a special yearly federal grant equivalent to 40% of the net revenue derived by the federal government from the state.

Last week, Kitingan warned that the deadline for finalising the formula, set at a special technical committee meeting held almost a year ago, was about to expire.

Chin, however, said that the date set was not a “hard deadline” and predicted that negotiations would continue.

He said the GRS-led Sabah government would need to have the matter sorted out as soon as possible given the next state election was around the corner, adding that he expects a formula to be drawn up by year-end.

The current state government’s term runs until October 2025, although chief minister Hajiji Noor has hinted at the possibility of polls being called this year.

Chin said GRS would bear the brunt of any failure on the part of the Sabah government to come up with a formula by then.

“GRS has invested a lot of political capital on this issue and they will pay a heavy price if they cannot resolve it before the next state elections.”

Meanwhile, Oh Ei Sun of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs described Kitingan’s remarks as a pleasant reminder, but said it did not amount to an ultimatum.

He said Kitingan would need more “political teeth” before crossing swords with the federal ruling coalition over the issue. Kitingan’s Parti Solidariti Tanah Air (STAR) presently has one parliamentary seat.

Oh also said both Anwar and Pakatan Harapan would “look good” if Putrajaya and the Sabah government were to agree on the formula.

“By the same token whoever is aligned with PH at the moment, including Jeffrey’s party, would also look nice politically. So it is in the interest of Sabah political parties (that a formula is reached).”