Armizan said Warisan made it appear as if the party had brought the case to court, while downplaying the contributions of other parties in defending Sabah’s entitlement.
He pointed out that Warisan president Shafie Apdal had previously dismissed the need to take the federal government to court on the issue when he served as chief minister from 2018 to 2020.
“In a state assembly meeting on Aug 7, 2019, Shafie was asked whether the state government had considered taking the matter to court,” Armizan said in a video today.
“He responded that the government would not pursue such an approach, saying it would be ‘inappropriate’ to haul the federal government to court.
“Yet today, when the Sabah Law Society successfully fought for Sabah’s rights in court, Warisan is trying to appear as if they are the heroes.”
Under the Federal Constitution, Sabah is entitled to 40% of state-derived federal tax revenue that exceeds a 1963 benchmark. However, the federal government has paid the state a “special grant” based on an agreed formula since 1974.
On Oct 17, the Kota Kinabalu High Court held that the government acted unlawfully and beyond its constitutional powers in failing to fulfil Sabah’s rights to tax revenue for the years 1974 to 2021.
The court also declared the special grant arrangements made by both the federal and state governments “unlawful, ultra vires, and irrational”.
The Attorney-General’s Chambers has since announced the government would challenge “defects” in the grounds of judgment.
Armizan, who is also the domestic trade and cost of living minister, said Shafie had also dismissed calls by former Sarawak deputy chief minister James Jemut Masing to jointly pursue legal action against Petronas over sales tax on petroleum products.
He said GRS had consistently upheld Sabah’s 40% entitlement to net federal revenue collected from the state, as evidenced by the Sabah attorney-general’s office supporting SLS throughout the legal process.
He said the government had presented historical records to the High Court on federal revenue collected from Sabah between 1964 and 1968, confirming that no official record exists of negotiations between Putrajaya and Sabah during that period.
“This is the reality of the GRS-led administration’s struggle for Sabah’s 40% rights. Let us save Sabah from the hypocrisy of Warisan,” he said.