Sabah CM case ruling on Nov 7
Verdict to decide whether Musa or Shafie will remain as state’s leader
KOTA KINABALU: The High Court here will decide on Nov 7 on the case of Sabah’s two chief ministers.
High Court judge Justice Yew Jen Kie had set the date for a ruling on Tan Sri Musa Aman’s legal challenge against Yang di-Pertua Negri Tun Juhar Mahiruddin’s appointment of Parti Warisan Sabah president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal as the state’s chief minister.
Justice Yew made the decision after hearing oral arguments from the legal counsel of the three parties.
Musa’s counsel were Tengku Fuad Tengku Ahmad and S. Vanugopal, Sabah Attorney General Datuk Zaleha Rose Pandin represented Juhar and Shafie was represented by Datuk Douglas Lind.
Musa is seeking a court declaration that he is the rightful Sabah chief minister through his appointment on May 10, and that Juhar’s subsequent May 12 appointment of Shafie was illegal.
Musa’s lawyers said Juhar had no power to remove a sitting chief minister under Article 10(4) of the State Constitution.
Zaleha and Lind argued that the governor had the right to remove the chief minister who had lost the majority support from the state assembly.
Based on the Federal Court decision on the Perak case involving the removal of former mentri besar Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin in 2009, both Lind and Zaleha argued that the governor had asked Musa to resign as he had lost the majority support.
However, Tengku Fuad said the governor had limited powers under Article 10(4) and had breached the Sabah Constitution in appointing Shafie two days after he swore in Musa.
In GE14, Barisan Nasional won 29 state seats, Warisan and its partners PKR and DAP won 29 seats with Sabah STAR winning two seats, which resulted in a hung assembly.
The two STAR assemblymen pledged their support to Barisan that saw Musa being sworn in as chief minister on May 10.
But the defections of six Barisan assemblymen saw Shafie being sworn in on May 12.
Earlier yesterday, security was increased at the Kota Kinabalu Court Complex and the entrance to the complex cordoned off in anticipation of the hearing.