The judgment provided further ammunition for Sabah-based parties that have long called for a more Sabah-centric state government – one that is firmer in pushing Putrajaya for the state’s full rights.
All eyes were then on whether the federal government would appeal the High Court decision.
“Even though the campaign officially hasn’t started, the 40 per cent issue has been used as a platform to gain sympathy from voters,” Azmi Hassan, senior fellow at the Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research, told CNA.
Nominations for the state polls will be on Saturday, after which campaigning officially starts.
On Tuesday evening, the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) and Prime Minister’s Office said in a joint statement that the federal government respects the principle of the special grant as outlined in the Federal Constitution.
“The federal government will therefore not appeal the special grant based on the 40 per cent revenue and will begin negotiations with the Sabah state government immediately,” the statement said.
However, the statement noted that the AGC also provided advice and recommendations to the Cabinet on “defects” in the court’s judgment.
“These included allegations that both the federal and state governments had abused power and violated constitutional obligations – a matter potentially dating back to 1974,” the statement said.
“The federal government intends to appeal these defects in the court’s judgment.”
STAKES OF SABAH ELECTION
Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) political analyst Anantha Raman Govindasamy said Putrajaya wanted to “reduce” the political temperature ahead of the Sabah polls.
“I think it is a carefully calculated strategic move by the federal government, given that the state election is just around the corner,” he said.
If the federal government had appealed the decision, another analyst believes peninsular-based parties like Anwar’s own Parti Keadilan Rakyat – which intends to contest 10 seats in Sabah – would “absolutely lose”.
“Now, all these parties can say, ‘See, we are truly Sabah nationalists. We managed to convince the PM not to appeal,’” said James Chin, a professor of Asian studies at the University of Tasmania.
That said, Chin pointed out that the federal government’s statement showed it was “not happy” with the reasons behind the High Court’s decision, and that it was ultimately “still going to appeal”.
This would allow the federal government to apply for leave on the High Court ruling, and give it more time – beyond the stipulated 180 days – to thrash out a deal with the new Sabah state government, Chin said.
This includes how much to pay Sabah for the “lost years” between 1974 and 2021, an amount that Chin estimated can go up to billions of ringgit, as well as the timeframe for payment.
Source: CNA
