PETALING JAYA: The Federal Government’s decision to appeal against some of the High Court’s reasoning in its judgment on Sabah’s 40% revenue entitlement is not a political move, say analysts.
Instead, the government wants to ensure that the court’s reasoning is consistent with constitutional and fiscal principles.
“The appeal is therefore procedural, not political,” said political analyst Prof Datuk Dr Sivamurugan Pandian, of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).
He said the clarification given by the Prime Minister was crucial in dispelling the misconception that the Federal Government was rejecting Sabah’s rights.
“The Prime Minister has said that Putrajaya respects Sabah’s entitlement to 40% of its revenue.”
However, Sivamurugan said it was equally important that the Federal Government carry out a transparent review so Sabah’s rights under MA63 are realised in “substance, not just in rhetoric”.
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia’s (UTM) Assoc Prof Dr Mazlan Ali said the appeal was against technical issues of the court’s reasoning and had nothing to do with the 40% royalty.
He said the contention was against a statement that the Federal Government had not failed in its obligations to Sabah, which is separate from the 40% royalty issue.
Anwar, he said, had previously explained that revenue collected from Sabah amounted to RM10bil while Federal Government aid and allocations to Sabah amounted to RM17bil.
“This is RM7bil above the revenue collected from Sabah.
“This shows that the Federal Government did not deny the rights of Sabahans,” he said.
Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research senior fellow Dr Azmi Hassan said that Anwar was referring to the “lost years”, namely the periodic five-year review on revenue payments which were not held since 1974.
Despite the absence of the review, he said the Federal Government continued to provide special grant payments to Sabah.
He said the absence of the review and annual grant payments would be among the matters likely to be raised in the government’s appeal.
Outspoken Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Abdul Karim, however, had a different take. He said Anwar should not cherry pick in appealing parts of the court’s decision while acceding to the 40% net revenue claims.
The government, he said, was wrongly advised by the Attorney-General’s Chambers on the matter, adding that if any appeal is made, it must be over the full judgment.
Hassan, himself a lawyer, said any disagreement must be resolved by the Court of Appeal.
“If necessary, it can be taken further to the Federal Court, because the 40% revenue claim by Sabah is a constitutional issue.
“The final forum to decide constitutional matters is the Federal Court, not the Kota Kinabalu High Court,” he said.
