The motion was filed last Tuesday by Tamparuli assemblyman Wilfred Bumburing of Parti Cinta Sabah.
Sabah DAP chief Chan Foong Hin told FMT his party believed Bumburing had initiated the correct approach for the state to take in demanding its rights.
He called on all political camps in Sabah to work together for the purpose.
“If Sarawak can unanimously demand a 20% oil royalty during the late Adenan Satem’s tenure as chief minister, why should we not take similar action?” he said.
The Sabah state assembly is scheduled to sit later this month.
Chan, who is the assemblyman for Sri Tanjong, alleged that the rights of Sabah and Sarawak under MA63 had gradually been eroded after Malaysia was formed in 1963.
He said a series of recent events had shown that Putrajaya would continue to ignore pleas from the two states. He added that Sabah should no longer allow itself to be belittled.
He referred to the setting up of a committee tasked with reclaiming the MA63 rights and said practically nothing had come out of it.
The committee is chaired by Special Tasks Minister Teo Chee Kang.
Last May, during Prime Minister Najib Razak’s visit to the state, Teo announced that the committee had submitted to him a report regarding the restoration of Sabah rights and devolution of powers under MA63.
During the same visit, Najib announced Putrajaya’s decision to exempt Sabah and Sarawak from the cabotage policy which had prevented foreign ships from transporting cargo directly to ports in the East Malaysian states.
“Unfortunately,” Chan said, “after those events, we have not had any development about the report or what has happened to it.
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“Has the prime minister studied it? Is there any decision by the federal cabinet? Nobody knows.
“Teo even openly expressed hope that a 40% special grant (based on revenue collected by the federal government in the state) entitled to Sabah would be announced during Budget 2018, but we ended up being disappointed.”
He also spoke of last year’s state assembly approval of the creation of 13 additional state constituencies.
He said: “Those seats are still missing although Sabah legislators have amended the state’s constitution. This is because the Election Committee Bill has not been tabled in Parliament.
“It has been more than a year and Sabah’s decision is still not respected and honoured by the federal government.”
Last Thursday, the Sarawak assembly unanimously passed a ministerial motion to mandate the formation of a special task force to negotiate with the federal government on all outstanding issues related to compliance and the upholding of constitutional safeguards and special rights accorded to the state under MA63.
Bumburing: Sabah government the rightful body to reclaim state’s rights