Musa asks lawyers to consider amending Originating Summons

KOTA KINABALU: Tan Sri Musa Haji Aman has instructed his lawyer to look into and consider amending the Originating Summons already filed to include the issue of yesterday’s unlawful Special Sitting of the State Legislative Assembly.

“Notwithstanding the additional issue of the unlawful convening of the Special Sitting of the State Legislative Assembly, Tan Sri Musa Haji Aman will proceed with his court action to declare, inter alia, that he is the lawful Chief Minister of Sabah and not Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal, and other reliefs including a declaration that all acts and things done by Shafie after his purported swearing-in on 12th May 2018 as null and void,” his lawyer Tengku Fuad Tengku Ahmad said in a statement yesterday.

Tengku Fuad is acting for Musa after the hearing of the Injunction Application filed by his firm Messrs. F.T. Ahmad & Co. on behalf of Datuk Jahid Jahim.

“My client views with concern that the Special Sitting is an attempt to thwart his court action and to pervert the course of justice as it is public knowledge that the court action has yet to be decided by the court,” he said.

“It is illogical for the Special Sitting to be convened given the conflict between the two appointed Chief Ministers.

“Who would the Speaker of the Assembly be putting to sit on the government bench?”

He added it would even be more illogical for the Speaker to put the unlawful Chief Minister of Datuk Seri Shafie to be on the government bench given that he was subsequently sworn in and that Musa was already the lawful installed and sitting Chief Minister.

“To do so and putting Datuk Seri Shafie on the government bench would be tantamount to the Speaker taking sides and making a decision which ought to be reserved for the law court given the court action being already filed and pending hearing.

“As my client has stated, he reiterates that his court action is all about the respect of the Rule of Law, the Sabah Constitution, the exercise of powers of the TYT Yang DiPertua Negeri after the installation of the Chief Minister and his Cabinet as against the subsequent unlawful swearingin of a second Chief Minister and the undemocratic and underhand grabbing of power through partyhopping and shifting of alliances by lawmakers who were elected on a different platform by the voters,” he said.

Regardless of the outcome, Tengku Fuad said Musa prays that the law be allowed to take its course and justice will prevail without any external interference.

Shafie led the swearing-in of 39 elected assemblymen and five appointed assemblymen before State Legislative Assembly Speaker Datuk Seri Panglima Syed Abas Syed Ali at the Special Sitting yesterday.

Musa was among the 21 Barisan Nasional and Star assemblymen who boycotted the Special Sitting and swearing-in ceremony.