SANDAKAN – The Sabah government retracting its submission on the 40% grant revenue judicial review against Putrajaya does not mean that it is going all out to fight for the state’s special grant, said Sabah Perikatan Nasional chief.
Datuk Seri Ronald Kiandee, who is also Beluran MP, said although lawyer Datuk Tengku Fuad Tengku Ahmad was ousted from the case, his submissions reflected the state government’s intentions.
“The Sabah government backtracked after a severe public criticism. By removing Fuad, it placed the burden of negligence on him, the state attorney-general and state secretary.
“What Fuad submitted (on May 16) clearly reflected the views of the Sabah government. (If not) then the submissions should be challenged by the Sabah Attorney-General’s Chambers in the next court proceeding,” he said in a statement today.
The sole Bersatu MP in Sabah added that the Sabah government was careless in reviewing the federal government’s stance on the 40% revenue entitlement issue, despite submitting eight requests to Putrajaya for Sabah’s revenue data.
“All these requests were ignored by the federal government.
“The people of Sabah can no longer depend on the Sabah government to fight for our 40% revenue return.
“Their inconsistent and messy stance compromises Sabah’s rights, which is a huge loss to the people.”
Yesterday, state Attorney-General Datuk Nor Asiah Mohd Yusof announced that the Sabah government had withdrawn all submissions previously made by Fuad at the Court of Appeal in Kota Kinabalu on May 16.
Sabah Law Society (SLS) and other political leaders said this showed that the Sabah government would no longer challenge the legal body’s position to fight for the 40% revenue return, as enshrined in Article 112C and 112D of the Federal Constitution.
They will return to court on June 18 to hear the decision on Putrajaya’s appeal against the leave granted by the high court for SLS to seek a judicial review. – May 24, 2024