SABAH 2020 | A suit that could potentially stop the Sabah state election has been postponed until Aug 21.
The High Court in Kota Kinabalu today allowed the plaintiff's request for an adjournment in view of new points raised by the Sabah attorney-general.
Musa Aman and 32 other state assemblypersons had filed for a judicial review against the decision of Sabah Governor Juhar Mahiruddin to dissolve the State Legislative Assembly on July 30.
According to the plaintiff's lawyer Fuad Tengku Ahmad, he will submit a reply to those points on Wednesday and the hearing would continue on Aug 21.
"On the 21st, if leave is granted, what the judge has indicated is that we would go straight to hear whether there is a stay on the proclamation (on the dissolution of the State Assembly) or not," Fuad told reporters outside the court.
With the proceedings being vacated today, it is possible for the Election Commission (EC) to issue a writ for the forthcoming state election before the decision is made.
It is uncertain at this point if the EC will go forward with the issuance of the writ. That will likely be answered when the EC holds a press conference at 4pm in Kota Kinabalu today.
Fuad said that the EC should not issue a writ until the matter is resolved in court.
"Why do you want to rush to issue the writ? They know this is before the court. They know the majority of state lawmakers say that the governor acted unconstitutionally.
"Why must the EC rush?" he asked.
The application by the 33 lawmakers claimed that Juhar was not properly advised to dissolve the State Legislature.
They named Juhar as the first respondent, Sabah Chief Minister Shafie Apdal as the second, the EC as the third and the government of Sabah as the fourth respondent.
Sabah Attorney-General Brenndon Keith Soh is representing the governor, chief minister and the state government.
Juhar dissolved the state assembly on the advice of the chief minister, a day after Musa claimed that he had the numbers to form a new government.
Adding to the intrigue was the fact that Musa had publicly claimed that Home Minister Hamzah Zainuddin and Mohd Nordin Awang, the political secretary to the prime minister, had met with Juhar on July 29. - Mkini
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