A ROYAL Commission of Inquiry will be established to review the special rights and status of East Malaysian states if Pakatan Harapan gets the mandate to form the federal government.

DAP chairman Tan Kok Wai said the promise to restore Sabah and Sarawak’s status in the federation was in PH’s manifesto.

“We will restore East Malaysian states to their rightful status. We will make sure of this and review the Malaysia Agreement 1963, and all the mistakes and injustices will be stopped,” he said in his address during PH’s Chinese New Year open house in Penampang, Sabah, today.

With him were Sabah PH chairman cum Sabah PKR chairman Christina Liew, Sabah DAP chairman Stephen Wong, Sabah DAP secretary Chan Foong Hin and representatives from Sabah Parti Amanah Negara.

Tan also questioned the sincerity of Prime Minister Najib Razak in promising to restore state rights, urging Sabahans to stop being “fooled” and “manipulated” by Barisan Nasional’s empty promises.

He said Sabahans would continue being the poorest and lowest paid people in the country if BN was allowed to govern the state again.

“Despite being rich in natural resources, Sabahans suffered the most in the last 55 years in Malaysia.

“This is because of greedy and power-hungry individuals. Therefore, we must deny BN the mandate and save Sabah from the greed of its leaders,” he said.

Within 100 days 

Sabah PH leaders said there was a need to set up the RCI to ensure “fair and equal” implementation of state rights, such as those involving revenue. 

They said the commission pledge would be formally announced next month, when the coalition unveils its final manifesto. 

Of the total revenue collected by the federal government from Sabah, the state gets 40%. Sarawak, meanwhile, has opted a fixed amount formula. 

Sabah DAP secretary Chan Foong Hin said the RCI on Sabah and Sarawak rights would be formed within 100 days of PH in power to address the skewed distribution formula. 

He said the commission would investigate whether the state rights were implemented fairly after the federation was formed 55 years ago. 

“They will have six months to complete their report, with the committee headed by a senior Sabah leader,” said Chan, without naming the leader. 

“This will be different from the BN-led initiative in restoring state rights, in that it gave no fixed timeline to implement or restore state rights. 

“The PH initiative will do this in under one year of coming to power,” he said. 

Back pay and autonomy  

Chan said the commission would also look into back payments after the federal government halted payment of Sabah’s revenue entitlement in 1974. 

Although there is no mention of back payments in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 or Federal Constitution, the federal government has continued to collect revenue from Sabah for the past 44 years. 

“Surely, some kind of compensation is due to Sabah. This is why Sabah PH’s new deal manifesto seeks to increase the revenue entitlement from 40% to 50%,” he said.  

Sabah PH chairman Christina Liew, meanwhile, said a meeting had been held with other PH leaders in Kuala Lumpur to address the return of autonomy to the states and including them in the manifesto. 

“What we want here must be accepted by central PH leaders. By April, we will reveal the complete new deal manifesto to Sabahans,” she said. 

Sabah PH is seeking state autonomy over seven fields – education, power generation, health, welfare, communication, business and tourism. 

“The basis (for the change) will be MA63, which sees Sabah as an equal partner in the federation. PH’s central leadership must understand this. 

“The central leadership have already given Sabah PH some form of autonomy in coming up with the Sabah manifesto, as well as making decisions that are acceptable to them,” she said. – February 17, 2018.