Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail. -Bernamapic
KOTA KINABALU: Pakatan Harapan is not making a U-turn on its GE14 manifesto promise to return 20% of oil revenue to producing states.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Ismail said she will refer to prime minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad over his statement that the 20% oil royalty will be from the particular state’s profits and not revenue.
“I don’t think we are making a U-turn, I have to refer to the prime minister because it is in our manifesto,” she said after an event here on Sunday.
She said the government needed to think of the finances of the country and then see how to fulfil their manifesto properly.
“We have to think of the coffers of the country, and then see how we can fulfil it properly because we do not want make empty promises,” she said.
Wan Azizah said they were committed to their manifesto but ‘how to play it’ was something else.
Earlier this week, Mahathir had affirmed Pakatan Harapan’s promise to provide every petroleum-producing state with 20% of the oil royalties, but they will be based on profits and not revenue.
This is not what the PH manifesto for GE14 stated, as the manifesto pledged to give 20% oil royalty based on revenue.
Chief minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal had also said he would be seeking a clarification on the statement.
The 20% oil royalty is what Sabah and Sarawak were to get according to the Malaysia Agreement 1963.
As of now, Sabah is only getting 5% of the oil royalty from Petronas.
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