DAP Kota Kinabalu MP Chan Foong Hin has challenged Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to call for a Parliament sitting in June to retable the Federal Constitution bill to restore Sabah and Sarawak as equal partners in the Federation of Malaysia.
Chan (above), who is also Sabah DAP secretary, urged all Sabah MPs to join the call to have a sitting in June, after Hari Raya Aidilfitri and after all the MPs have been vaccinated.
Chan raised the matter after Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Jeffrey Kitingan urged the Perikatan Nasional-led government to pay overdue payments of various grants that are constitutionally guaranteed to the two states.
Kitingan's Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku Rakyat Sabah is part of the state government in Sabah that is led by PN and Gabungan Rakyat Sabah.
"I would like to express my solidarity with Kitingan for launching what is described by the media as a 'thinly-veiled dig' at the PN government for renegading from its obligation to pay a special grant annually, amounting to 40 percent of the net revenue derived from Sabah, as enshrined under the Constitution," Chan said in a statement yesterday.
According to Kitingan, the PN government only paid Sabah RM26.7 million.
Chan pointed out that the Pakatan Harapan administration had increased the special grant to RM53.4 million from RM26.7 million under Budget 2020 and that the payment amount would be doubled every five years.
"The only reason I can think of why Kitingan would resort to his tirade against the federal government openly in the media, instead of communicating within the system, is because there is no such system within PN for grouses to be heard in the first place.
"He has reached a dead end with such recalcitrance," Chan added.
He then pointed out that Kitingan's statement came after Muhyiddin announced Sabah and Sarawak as "regions" instead of "states".
"Does this mean that Muhyiddin’s announcement is merely lip service and in actual fact has no substance?"
"Does this also mean that Kitingan, being a deputy chief minister of Sabah, is being ignored within PN and cannot even convince his coalition partners in PN to right what is wrong, as far as Sabah and Sarawak are concerned?
"In this regard, I am in solidarity with Jeffrey Kitingan. PN should not ignore Jeffrey’s 'thinly-veiled dig' for it may lead to the downfall of PN," Chan said.
He said the former Pakatan Harapan federal administration, which committed itself to implement the Malaysia Agreement 1963, had resolved 17 out of 21 issues.
"However, the PN government seems to have taken no concrete action whatsoever to resolve the remaining issues pertaining to MA63 review. These all show that Harapan has the plan and heart to implement, while PN can only talk but take no action.
"The situation now is so bad and has boiled over that even Kitingan became so frustrated that he had to air his view via media in a 'thinly-veiled dig'," Chan added. - Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.