Malaysianow Editor Seeks To Void Criminal Defamation Provisions

---

 


Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Armizan Ali has replaced Ewon Benedick as Sabah’s representative on the technical committee of the MA63 Implementation Action Council.
This followed Ewon’s (above, right) resignation from the cabinet as the entrepreneur and cooperatives development minister on Nov 8.
Government spokesperson Fahmi Fadzil announced the replacement in a post-cabinet meeting press conference today.
Also present at the press conference was Armizan (above, left), who reportedly said the cabinet has instructed the immediate convening of discussions on fulfilling Sabah’s 40 percent share of federal revenue derived from the state.
ADSFree Malaysia Today also reported Armizan as saying that discussions with the Sabah government would begin at the civil service level, as the current state government is in caretaker mode ahead of the Nov 29 state election.
Finance Ministry secretary-general Johan Mahmood Merican has been tasked with representing the federal side in the discussions, while Sabah state secretary Safar Untong will represent the state.
The first meeting is expected at Menara Kinabalu in Kota Kinabalu on Monday (Nov 17).
“This development demonstrates the federal government’s seriousness in implementing the Kota Kinabalu High Court’s order,” Armizan was quoted as saying.
Previously, in tendering his resignation, Ewon had cited a prediction that the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) would continue to advise the government to appeal an Oct 17 Kota Kinabalu High Court ruling regarding the 40 percent federal revenue that Putrajaya owes Sabah.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim later confirmed that the federal government will only appeal the Kota Kinabalu High Court’s ruling that Putrajaya and the Sabah government had made major mistakes since 1974.
He stressed that the appeal will not affect the ruling over Sabah’s entitlement to a 40 percent share of federal revenue collected from the state.
In response, Ewon, who is also the Sabah Pakatan Harapan chairperson and Upko president, maintained that “an appeal is an appeal”.
AGC’s appeal
Yesterday, the AGC filed an appeal against parts of the High Court’s ruling that ordered the federal government to hold another review with the Sabah government.
The AGC is also appealing against the court’s findings on evidence relating to the existence of an ongoing review between the federal government and the state government.
Kota Kinabalu High Court judge Celestina Stuel Galid previously ruled that the federal government had acted unlawfully and beyond its powers under the Federal Constitution by failing to honour Sabah’s 40 percent share of federal revenue for nearly five decades.
Following this, she declared the special grant review orders jointly issued by the federal and state governments were “unlawful, ultra vires (beyond the powers), and irrational”. - Mkini

---