Sabah DUN convenes, seeking to remove state governor's tenure limit

SABAH DUN | The special sitting of Sabah State Legislative Assembly has convened to remove the two-term limit of the Yang di-Pertua Negeri.

According to a motion sighted by Malaysiakini, the Sabah state government is in a bid to delete Article 2(3) of the state constitution, which refers to the term limit of the state governor.

The clause that would be deleted read: "A person shall not hold office as the Yang di-Pertua Negeri for more than two terms either continuously or otherwise".

The motion will allow the current state governor Juhar Mahiruddin (photo), whose term ends on Jan 2, 2019, to remain in office for a possible third term. He was first appointed to the post on Jan 2, 2011, and sworn in for his second term on Jan 1, 2015.

The amendment of the state constitution is expected to be passed by the assembly later today with the growing support gained by the Warisan-led state government.

At present, Warisan and its allies control 45 seats in the 64-seat assembly, more than the two-thirds threshold needed to amend the Constitution.

Beside this, the assembly also convenes today to seek to strengthen the state government's regulatory control over the mining activities in Sabah.

This is being done via the amendment of Sabah's Mining Ordinance 1960 by making clearer the state government's regulatory role over oil and gas and mining activities in Sabah.

[More to follow] - Mkini