Author: Remy Majangkim, Principal, The Majangkim Office hi
KOTA KINABALU : A dangerous narrative of historical revisionism is being weaponized to obscure the timeline of Sabah’s battle for fiscal sovereignty.
Recent political attempts to paint Parti Warisan as an administration that willingly traded Sabah’s sacred 40% constitutional net revenue entitlement for a flat, doubled special grant is not merely a mischaracterization—it is a deliberate distortion of the historical record.
To understand why the Warisan-led state government agreed to a revised interim grant of RM53.4 million, one must look closely at the political and federal landscape of 2019, then presided over by Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.
Breaking a 45-Year Stagnation
When Warisan took the reins of the state government in 2018, they inherited a devastating fiscal legacy left behind by decades of compliance. Under successive Barisan Nasional regimes, Sabah’s annual special grant had remained completely frozen at an insulting RM26.7 million for 45 straight years. The mandatory constitutional requirement for a five-year review had been fundamentally ignored.
Facing a federal administration under Tun Mahathir that was publicly hyper-focused on national debt containment and recovering from systemic financial scandals, the administration led by Datuk Seri Panglima Shafie Apdal pulled off a strategic breakthrough. They forced a rigid Putrajaya to do what no previous government had done in nearly five decades: double the special grant to RM53.4 million.
The “Without Prejudice” Safety Net
Critics intentionally omit the crucial legal framework of the 2019 arrangement to suit their current political narrative. As documented in official State Treasury records dated October 18, 2019, the Warisan administration explicitly stipulated in writing that accepting this increased interim amount did not prejudice or waive Sabah’s right to the 40% constitutional entitlement.
It was a tactical, interim compromise designed to inject immediate development funds into Sabah while the broader, highly complex 40% calculation framework was being negotiated. Warisan did not abandon the 40% formula; they safely locked it in as an uncompromised constitutional right while extracting immediate capital from a cash-strapped federal ally.
Uncompromising Consistency in the 40% Fight
Warisan’s contemporaneous actions completely dismantle the myth that they prefer basic federal handouts over structural revenue-sharing. Following the landmark October 2025 Kota Kinabalu High Court ruling that validated Sabah’s 40% net revenue entitlement, Warisan did not sit quietly. When Putrajaya moved to seek a stay order to delay the court-mandated financial review, Shafie Apdal fiercely demanded that the federal government cease its delaying tactics and honor the supreme law of the land.
Furthermore, Warisan leadership has consistently drawn a hard line between constitutional rights and normal federal obligations. Shafie has repeatedly warned against political gaslighting, emphasizing that standard federal allocations for basic infrastructure—like hospitals, police stations, and security forces—cannot and must never be counted as part of the 40% revenue return.
The Verdict
Exercising fiscal pragmatism under the constrained premiership of Tun Mahathir was an act of responsible governance, not a surrender of statehood. To conflate an interim financial bridge with a waiver of Article 112C is intellectually dishonest.
Warisan did not settle for a flat grant. They broke a 45-year deadlock, guarded the constitution, and laid the exact groundwork that allows today’s leaders to negotiate for higher yields. To claim otherwise is a disservice to the historical fight for Sabah’s rights.
DISCLAIMER: The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Jesselton Times.
