Hak 40% Sabah bukan syarat sokong kerajaan Madani, kata pegawai Mustapha

Ahmad Farid Sainuri, a spokesperson for the Prime Minister's Department for the Sabah and Sarawak regions, clarified that the special 40% allocation for Sabah is not a political bargaining chip nor linked to support for the Madani government. According to Farid, this statement aims to explain media reports since September 27 that quoted Mustapha, implying that Sabah's constitutional rights are tied to political backing of the government.

Farid emphasized that Mustapha's claim was taken out of context, and what he stressed is the record of the federal government's performance in increasing interim payments to Sabah up to RM1.5 billion annually. "Clarification regarding this record of governance is in no way meant to position Sabah's constitutional rights as a prerequisite for political support," he said in a statement.

Farid also stressed that the RM1.5 billion interim payment is not and has never been considered as a substitute for the settlement of Sabah's special entitlement. Rather, he explained, it is a temporary payment until the actual special entitlement to Sabah is realized between the state government and Putrajaya. Farid reiterated that discussions on the formula, actual value, and mechanism for its implementation are still ongoing between the State Finance Chief and the Finance Minister's Department of Sabah and the Chairman of Perbandaran Perbandaran.

The paramount concern remains that any issue related to Sabah and Sarawak's rights in MAL 63 must be resolved effectively without undermining national unity, he concluded.