Daniel John Jambun, Borneo’s Plight in Malaysia Foundation (BoPiMaFo)
KOTA KINABALU: Borneo’s Plight in Malaysia Foundation (BoPiMaFo) states in the strongest possible terms:
What transpired in the Sabah State Legislative Assembly today is not a procedural issue.
It is institutional suppression of Sabah’s constitutional rights.
When a motion on Sabah’s 40% revenue entitlement is raised — and is met with hesitation, deflection, and procedural shielding — the conclusion is unavoidable:
There is a deliberate refusal to allow this issue to be confronted.
1. THIS IS A TEST — AND THE STATE GOVERNMENT HAS FAILED
Let us be clear:
This was a simple test of political courage.
A motion was placed before the Assembly on a matter that is:
constitutionally guaranteed
financially critical
long overdue
And yet, instead of leadership, Sabahans witnessed avoidance.
The refusal to decisively allow or prioritise the motion is not neutrality.
It is submission.
2. PUTRAJAYA’S SHADOW IS CLEARLY VISIBLE
Sabahans are not naïve.
When the Assembly hesitates to even debate Sabah’s constitutional entitlement, one question arises:
Who is the Sabah Government really accountable to?
Because it is inconceivable that:
a RM billions-per-year constitutional entitlement
affecting the future of Sabah
can be treated as secondary — unless there is external pressure to keep it that way.
This is not speculation.
This is a pattern Sabahans have seen for decades.
3. THE SPEAKER’S RULING EXPOSES A DANGEROUS REALITY
The reliance on “government business takes precedence” exposes a structural problem:
The Constitution can be sidelined by controlling the Order Paper.
If that is allowed to stand, then:
constitutional rights can be indefinitely delayed
critical issues can be buried without rejection
accountability can be avoided without consequence
This is not democracy.
This is procedural control masking constitutional avoidance.
4. THIS IS NO LONGER A GOVERNANCE ISSUE — IT IS A BREACH
Sabah’s 40% entitlement under:
Article 112C
Article 112D
The Tenth Schedule
is not optional.
It is not negotiable.
It is not subject to political timing.
The continued failure to implement it — combined with refusal to meaningfully debate it — constitutes:
a continuing breach of constitutional duty at both Federal and State levels.
5. THE SABAH GOVERNMENT CANNOT HIDE ANY LONGER
The time for careful language and diplomatic silence is over.
The Sabah Government must answer directly:
Do you recognise the 40% as a binding constitutional right?
If yes, why is it not being enforced?
If no, say it openly to the people of Sabah
Anything less is political evasion.
6. THIS VALIDATES THE NEED FOR JUDICIAL INTERVENTION
What happened today proves a critical point:
The Executive will not act
The Legislature will not confront
Therefore:
The Judiciary must now be called upon to enforce the Constitution.
This is no longer a matter of choice.
It is a matter of necessity.
7. A WARNING TO ALL ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES
Every ADUN must understand:
History will not record your speeches.
History will record whether you stood up — or stood aside.
Sabahans are watching.
And the question is simple:
Are you representatives of Sabah — or managers of its silence?
8. FINAL DECLARATION
BoPiMaFo declares:
Sabah’s 40% is no longer being delayed.
It is being denied, avoided, and suppressed.
And from this moment forward, the issue is no longer technical.
It is political.
It is constitutional.
And it is a matter of justice long withheld.
“If Sabah’s rights cannot be debated, then Sabah’s rights are being denied.”
