Sabah rep files for injunction against state polls

Parti Cinta Sabah (PCS) president Wilfred Bumburing has filed for an injunction to prevent the state elections from taking place.

In his application, Bumburing said the elections should not take place unless the 13 new Sabah legislative assembly seats are recognised by Parliament or if the legislative assembly abolishes the 13 new seats.

The creation of 13 new seats was passed through the state assembly and gazetted in 2016.

Several Sabah opposition leaders such as Parti Warisan Sabah president Mohd Shafie Apdal and Sabah Progressive Party president Yong Teck Lee have claimed that a constitutional crisis would occur if elections were held without incorporating the new seats.

Parliament had adopted the redrawn electoral boundaries proposed by the Election Commission. Curiously, the exercise was not extended to Sabah. 

Sabah has 60 state assembly seats presently. Some political observers believe that the 13 new seats, which were crafted before Warisan was established, were not favourable to BN now.

Bumburing's suit was the second legal action that has been filed in relations to Putrajaya's refusal to recognise the 13 new seats.

Yesterday, Yong sought a court order to compelPrime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to table the EC's redelineation report on Sabah to Parliament. 

Yong submitted that a federal government gazette on Feb 21 last year had shown that the report on the 13 new state seats had been submitted to Najib. - Mkini