KOTA KINABALU: Parti Warisan cautions that the proposed bipartisan committee on Sabah’s 40% constitutional revenue entitlement must not become another mechanism to delay the state’s long-denied rights.
Its Kapayan assemblyman Chin Tek Ming welcomed Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) information chief Datuk Joniston Bangkuai's call to set up a bipartisan committee under the state assembly.
Chin said he was ready to be a constructive part of any bipartisan mechanism established in good faith for the benefit of Sabah and its people.
However, he asked if the proposed committee would have legal status and a binding mandate with a set timeline, reporting obligations, and a mechanis to ensure actual implementation rather than prolonged consultation.
He also asked if the matter would be brought before the state assembly for open debate.
Chin, whose motion earlier this month for the assembly to discuss and set timelines for a structured implementation of the revenue claim, said it remains the most practical and accountable framework to advance Sabah’s rights.
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He said Sabahans were entitled to ask why the constitutional guarantee has not been implemented, even after decades of alignment with ruling coalitions within the Federal Government.
He said the entitlement is already before the Court of Appeal but the public continues to hear recurring narratives of "ongoing negotiations" without any substantive delivery.
"After almost six decades of being denied what is constitutionally due, the 40% entitlement now risks being reduced from a guaranteed right into a mere political aspiration.
"If there was genuine political commitment, my motion would not have been denied.
"Sabah’s 40% revenue entitlement is not a gift from Putrajaya. It is not political charity. It is a constitutional right that has long been acknowledged but still remains unfulfilled," he said.
Earlier, Joniston said PBS was proposing a bipartisan committee to focus on matters related to the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), particularly Sabah’s long-standing entitlement to 40% of net federal revenue derived from the state.
