Sabah PH reps go to court over 40% revenue share for state
PETALING JAYA: Twelve Pakatan Harapan (PH) elected representatives in Sabah have filed a legal action at the Kota Kinabalu High Court, seeking a declaration that the state’s 40% revenue share formula, as stipulated in the Malaysia Agreement 1963, is still applicable.
They are also seeking declarations that a review of Putrajaya’s annual grant to Sabah should have been carried out in 1974, and that the 2022 review – jointly announced by the federal and Sabah state governments in April – was unconstitutional.
Among the representatives involved were Sabah PKR chief Christina Liew, Tuaran MP Wilfred Madius Tangau, Sabah DAP chief Frankie Poon, Sabah Amanah chief Lahirul Latigu, and Kota Kinabalu MP Chan Foong Hin.
Their lawyer, Nelson W Angang, said the group also wanted the federal government to disclose the net revenue derived from Sabah annually so that the state would know how much the 40% amounted to.
He said the group is also seeking a declaration that any review of Article 112D of the Federal Constitution, which touches on special grants and revenue for Sabah, must be based on the 40% formula.
Nelson said they also want a declaration that special grants from 1974 should be based on the 40% formula instead of the fixed amount of RM26.7 million which Sabah had been receiving since the 1970s.
In April, Putrajaya announced Sabah’s special grant would be increased to RM125.6 million from RM26.7 million beginning this year.
But Nelson said this review was unconstitutional because it was not based on the 40% revenue share formula.
“We want the court to rule that once Article 112D is involved, you have to use the 40% as the basis,” he said.
In March, finance minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz revealed that the 40% formula was no longer applicable.
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