KOTA KINABALU, Nov 8 — DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke today said the party will leave it to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to announce the federal government’s decision on whether to appeal the High Court ruling on Sabah’s 40 per cent revenue entitlement.
He said the issue was discussed at the Cabinet meeting and that the national DAP’s position mirrors that of the state — that due process must take place.
“You will know the answer before nomination day. The answer will be unveiled in the next few days. A clear position will be made.
“The prime minister will be here tomorrow. I am sure he will touch on this subject very clearly,” he said when speaking to reporters today.
Loke said DAP’s national leadership had thoroughly discussed the matter at its Central Executive Committee (CEC) meeting last week, where it heard and adopted Sabah DAP’s sentiment that the federal government should honour the court’s decision.
“The court ruling says the federal and state governments must comply with the court’s ruling and begin negotiations within 180 days, and due process must now take place,” he said.
“We fully respect the court decision. The 180-day negotiation process should be expedited,” he said, adding that DAP had also shown solidarity with the Sabah Law Society (SLS) in its legal pursuit of the matter.
Loke also took a swipe at political rivals who have accused the federal government of neglecting Sabah’s rights, saying the 40 per cent entitlement issue is not new and should have been reviewed every five years since 1974.
“Those who talk big today should ask themselves — why didn’t they pursue this when they were in power? The court ruling is clear that a review must take place every five years. But this was never done by past governments. So this is also a failure of previous administrations.
“As the federal government, we are committed to giving back fairness to Sabah. But at the same time, those who are pointing fingers now should take responsibility for their past inaction,” he said.
Loke also dismissed claims that the government had failed to uphold Sabah’s rights, pointing out that the federal administration has already established a joint committee on the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) and launched various development initiatives for the state.
“There is no issue of us not honouring what should be done. We have been working hard to bring development to Sabah — way before the court decision,” he said, citing increased flight routes, infrastructure works and other ongoing projects.
Sabah DAP chairman Datuk Ginger Phoong said support for SLS had been consistent from the start, even before the party entered the federal government.
“In 2022, when we were still in the opposition, we supported SLS in filing the case. After we formed the federal government in 2023, we gave way for the process to take place,” he said.
