GRS deputy secretary-general Armizan Mohd Ali said the law was clear that the federal finance minister must negotiate the matter with the Sabah and Sarawak governments beforehand.

Armizan took issue with remarks by Warisan information chief Azis Jamman about the appointment process which “will confuse those who are hearing about the initiative for the first time and who do not have the complete information”.

In a video clip, Aziz had claimed that the federal finance minister need not consult the Sabah chief minister on the appointment, and may even sack the Sabah representative at any time.

Armizan said the requirement for Sabah and Sarawak representatives on the LHDN board had come about through negotiations between Putrajaya, the GRS-led Sabah government and the Sarawak government.

“So that no one else can take the credit, I reiterate that this is a new initiative resulting from negotiations in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 special council, involving the federal, Sabah and Sarawak government.

“This had nothing to do with Warisan and was not in the agenda of the special Cabinet committee on MA63 which was formed by the previous (Pakatan Harapan) government which Warisan was a part of,” said Armizan, who is Papar MP.

Armizan also urged Azis to explain why Warisan president Shafie Apdal did not do anything to block the enactment of the Territorial Sea Act 2012 when Shafie was a federal minister.

Armizan reiterated that the law, enacted by the Najib Razak government, in which Shafie was rural and regional development minister, had slashed Sabah’s territorial limit to three nautical miles, undermining its oil and gas sovereignty.