He said this is not how a federation works.
Teo, who is also state special tasks minister, said the state assembly cannot unilaterally pass a law to give effect to something “that requires two hands to clap”.
He was responding to Parti Warisan Sabah deputy president Darell Leiking’s call to the state government to just implement the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) provisions on state rights as it has the power to do so.
“Leiking’s averment that Sabah rights under MA63 can be implemented through the state legislative assembly shows his obvious lack of understanding as to how a federation works,” said Teo when contacted by FMT.
“He also misconstrued Article 8 of the Malaysia Agreement by saying that when rights under the agreement are not implemented, they can be implemented through the state assembly.
“The gist of Article 8 is that if there is any recommendation in the Inter-Governmental Committee’s (IGC) report that is not expressly incorporated into the Federal Constitution, all parties to the agreement are to make laws or take administrative or other actions to give effect to the same.
“For example, as provided by Article 112D of the Federal Constitution, the special grant ‘shall… be reviewed by the governments of the federation and the states or state concerned’.
“Is Leiking saying that our state assembly can just pass an enactment to impose on the federal government an obligation to pay us special grant of, say, RM2 billion per year?”
On the issue of the restoration of Sabah’s rights, Teo, who is also Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) president, said he was confident the state’s consultative approach would bear fruit.
“While we will be guided by the IGC report, MA63, Federal Constitution and related legal instruments, the opposition will continue to talk like the opposition.”
Yesterday, during a Chinese New Year walkabout here, Leiking said the state government has a two-third majority in the state assembly and could easily implement MA63 under Article 8 through technical committees.
“Just tell the federal government and the people that MA63 hasn’t been implemented in full.
“There’s no need to put it in their election manifesto like the opposition.”
Leiking said this in response to an earlier statement by Teo that Sabah was seeking to prioritise two elements in the restoration of its rights and the devolution of powers from the federal government.
Teo said one of the elements was the annual special grant due to Sabah amounting to 40% of the revenue collected by the federal government in the state.
The special grant was provided for under Article 112D of the Federal Constitution, which also stipulates that the amount was subject to the financial position of the federal government and the needs of the state.
The other element is the power to regulate the production and distribution of electricity and gas in Sabah, said Teo.
Teo was among state officials who met Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.
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