KOTA KINABALU, Sept 22 — Sabah Pakatan Harapan (PH) has promised to fight for state rights and to equalise the socio-economic gap should they manage to take over the state government in the coming 14th general elections.
State PH chief Christina Liew said most of their manifesto were carried over from the previous year’s with some additions, such as a 50 per cent returns from the total revenue derived from the state, and a maximum of two terms for the chief minister’s post.
“We will ensure that the revenue sharing is equal so that half of our revenue will go back to the state to generate our local economy. We will also raise the oil royalty from five per cent currently to 20 per cent,” she said.
Liew said they also mooted that a state chief minister can only hold the post for a maximum of ten years or two terms, and cannot hold any other ministerial or senior post in government-linked companies.
“We also want Malaysia Day to be taken more seriously. We will ensure that September 16, 1963 will get prominence in our nation’s textbooks,“ said Liew during the soft launch of the manifesto at the Tang Dynasty hotel here.
Liew said that it was shameful how long it has taken the federal government to give Sabah its due entitlement and address the economic and social divide between East and West Malaysia.
“If we are the government, when we negotiate with the federal government, it won’t take 54 years. We will get our rights as enshrined in the Malaysia Agreement,” she said.
Liew also said that they would appoint a deputy prime minister from Sabah and Sarawak as part of their equal power sharing concept.
Among the areas that will be given devolution of powers are education, health, transport, tourism and social security as well as the jurisdiction to clean up the electoral roll as a result of the influx of illegal immigrants with Malaysian MyKad.
The soft launch today was also attended by party president Datuk Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and chief secretary Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah.
