DATUK Seri Hajiji Noor is constitutionally and legitimately the Chief Minister in accordance with the law and the democratic mandate of the people of Sabah, said Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) Sec-Gen Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun.
He said there was no merit to Barisan Nasional (BN) Sabah Chairman cum Sabah Umno Chief Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin’s allegation that Hajiji has no locus standi (right of standing) to be Sabah’s Chief Minister.
Masidi said the Sabah Constitution is designed to promote certainty and political stability in the State. He also stressed that it is fundamental to Sabah’s constitutional order that the TYT is not dragged into political schemes, disputes or power struggles.
“Hence, the recent practice of bringing signed statutory declarations to the Istana as evidence of the confidence of assemblymen in the government is undesirable and should be discouraged. “The proper practice is to settle questions of confidence in the DUN itself or by way of a general election,” he said on Jan 6.
On Bung’s claim that Hajiji was not qualified to be the Chief Minister under Article 6(7) of the Constitution of the State of Sabah, Masidi pointed out, thus:
“For the purpose of Clause (3) of this Article, where a political party has won a majority of the elected seats of the Legislative Assembly in a general election, the leader of such political party, who is a member of the Legislative Assembly, shall be the member of the Legislative Assembly who is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of the Assembly.
“Following a State general election, the Tun Yang Terutama (TYT) will choose a member of the Assembly whom he thinks shall command the confidence of a majority of the members of the Assembly: Article 6(3).
“Where a political party wins a majority of the seats in the Assembly (the ‘DUN’) the leader of that party is presumed to command the majority: Article 6(7). “Hence, a ‘majority’ for the purposes of Article 6(7) means ‘more than 50% of the seats in the DUN (State Legislative Assembly)’,” he said in a statement.
Masidi said this definition of “majority” was made clear by the High Court in Tan Sri Musa Aman v Tun Juhar & Anor [2019] 10 MLJ 329 where at page 345 in paragraphs [28] and [29] High Court Judge Datuk Yew Jen Kie stated that ‘majority’ does not mean ‘the most seats’ but greater than 50% of the seats in the DUN.
“Datuk Yew Jen Kie went on to say that Article 6(7) will not apply unless a political party manages to win more than 50% of the DUN seats following a State election which, was not the case in 2018 (GE 14). In GE14 no single party won more than 50% of the DUN seats and therefore Article 6(7) of the Sabah Constitution was not applicable,” said Masidi.
He said the Court of Appeal upheld Datuk Yew Jen Kie’s verdict in Tan Sri Musa Aman v Tun Juhar & Anor [2020] 3 MLJ 49 on page 56, paragraph [17].
“In 2020, no single political party won more than 50% of the 73 seats contested. Therefore, following the High Court and Court of Appeal’s interpretation of Article 6(7), the TYT first observed that no single political party won more than 50% of the DUN seats and thus correctly disregarded Article 6(7) as inapplicable.
“The TYT then properly and correctly exercised his powers under Article 6(3) and appointed Hajiji as Chief Minister whereby his appointment is constitutionally and legitimately sworn in in accordance with the law and the democratic mandate of the people of Sabah.
“Hajiji and 14 state assemblymen having left Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) in Dec 2022 are all direct members of Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS). There are altogether 29 ADUNs and is the largest political party in the DUN,” he said.
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