Musa to Shafie: See you in court

Shafie (left) and Musa.

KOTA KINABALU: Sungai Sibuga assemblyman Tan Sri Musa Aman will proceed with his court action to seek a declaration that he is the lawful Chief Minister of Sabah.

Musa, whose whereabouts are currently unknown, will also seek to declare that all acts done by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal after his swearing-in on May 12 are null and void.

Lawyer Tengku Fuad Ahmad said Musa's lawyers have been instructed to look into the originating summons and consider amending it to include the issue of the "unlawful" special state assembly sitting held on Monday (June 11).

Tengku Fuad is acting for Musa after the hearing of the injunction application filed by his firm on behalf of Parti Bersatu Sabah's Tamparuli assemblyman 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 on,” he said in a statement on Monday.

Tengku Fuad said it was illogical for the special sitting to be convened, given the conflict between the two appointed Chief Ministers.

"As my clients have stated, this court action is all about the respect of the Rule of Law, the Sabah Constitution, the exercise of powers of the Yang Di-Pertua Negeri after the installation of the Chief Minister and his Cabinet.

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

Shafie won the vote of confidence with a two-thirds majority in the 64-member state assembly at the special sitting on Monday.

Assemblymen from Parti Warisan Sabah and its partners PKR, DAP and Upko gave 43 votes in support of Shafie, amid the absence of 21 elected representatives from Sabah Barisan Nasional and Sabah STAR.

The assemblymen from Sabah Barisan and STAR had earlier said that they would not attend the sitting, calling it “unlawful” and “hastily convened”.

Deputy Chief Minister Christina Liew tabled the motion of confidence towards the Chief Minister, and said that the special state Legislative Assembly was legal.

The vote of confidence was passed at 12.50pm.- Star