Thursday, July 30, 2020

Snap polls in Sabah? Shafie to hold press conference today

Malaysiakini

All eyes are now on Sabah chief minister Shafie Apdal who has scheduled a press conference at 10am today (Thursday), believed to be related to his audience with Governor Juhar Mahiruddin last night.
According to sources from the Warisan president's camp, the meeting at the Sabah State Palace in Kota Kinabalu included discussions over the possibility of state polls.
The meeting came only hours after former chief minister Musa Aman announced that he purportedly obtained a slim majority from state representatives to form a government.
Sources told Malaysiakini that Shafie's meeting with Juhar lasted for nearly three hours. They were joined by the state attorney-general Brenndon Keith Soh.
"We need to see what is the response from the governor first," said a source.
The source, who is close to Shafie, said this when asked if the chief minister was at the palace to seek the state assembly's dissolution which would then pave the way for a snap state election.
Yesterday evening, Musa, who is Sungai Sibuga state assemblyperson, held a press conference where he claimed that he has secured enough statutory declarations (SDs) from state assemblypersons supporting him.
The Umno leader, however, did not state the numbers. Musa also claimed that he had been instructed by the governor to submit the SDs.
However, as of midnight, it was unclear if Musa had managed to obtain an audience with Juhar.
In a controversial decision last month, attorney-general Idrus Harun dropped 46 corruption and money laundering charges levelled against Musa.
Press conference on Thursday morning
According to a report by The Star, Shafie left the palace at about 11pm. It was yet to be confirmed what decision was reached during the meeting.
Shortly after Shafie's departure, his press aide invited all media to attend a press conference at 10am today (Thursday) at the Sabah State Administrative Centre in Kota Kinabalu.
For the record, the Sabah state assembly consists of 60 elected representatives.
An additional five representatives are appointed by the state government with full voting rights. However, it is learned that the appointees cannot determine the standing of the state administration.
Snap polls in 60 days
In his press conference, eventually called at 12pm, Shafie agreed to dissolve the state assembly and said polls would be held within the next 60 days. - Mkini

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