Monday, September 28, 2020

Zahid: Giving CM post to Bersatu too costly for BN

 


Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has reiterated his stand for Sabah BN chief Bung Moktar Radin to be the new Sabah chief minister.

According to The Star, Zahid said it would not be good for BN to concede the chief minister post to Bersatu after "giving" two top posts to the latter - namely the prime ministership and the Perak menteri besar post.

“We have given in twice – once in Perak, where Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia only has four state representatives and Umno has 25.

“Yet we agreed that a Bersatu state assemblyman (Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu) be appointed as the Menteri Besar of Perak.

“Also, when we came in to form the Federal Government with Bersatu and Gagasan Parti Sarawak, even though Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s party did not have the most MPs, we agreed that he would be the Prime Minister," Zahid said.

He said, this time, the consequences would be too much to bear for BN should they give in yet again.

“Now, for us, if we do not get a Barisan (state assemblyman) as the chief minister in Sabah, the cost for Barisan in the future will be too much to bear.

“Our studies have shown that the impact would not be good for Barisan. I would not agree for Bung to concede to anyone else outside of Barisan to be the chief minister. No,” Zahid said.

After emerging victorious in the state election by clinching 38 seats, the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) coalition appeared to be in a deadlock over their choice of chief minister.

BN wants Bung as the CM while Bersatu is proposing Sabah Bersatu chairperson Hajiji Noor.

In a separate story, The Star reported that both Bung and Hajiji had submitted statutory declarations during their meeting with the state governor Juhar Mahiruddin (below) yesterday.

Quoting sources, the report said both assemblypersons would leave the chief minister decision to Juhar.

Juhar consulted ex-chief justice Richard Malanjum

Zahid claimed that Juhar had also consulted legal experts including Richard Malanjum, who had campaigned for Warisan during the election, on the chief minister matter.

Zahid also noted that Article 6(7) of the Sabah Constitution reads that the governor has the prerogative to appoint, as chief minister, the leader of a political party that won the majority of seats in an election.

“The matter of Article 6(7) has been brought to the High Court and the Court of Appeal,” said the Bagan Datuk MP.

He added that the interpretation of the term “party which commands the majority” did not necessarily mean more than 60 percent of the state assembly.

“We (GRS) have given two names - Bung Moktar and Hajiji. I am hoping that the governor will decide in the spirit of Perak.

"It is the governor’s prerogative, but I hope it will be Bung Moktar,” he added. - Mkini

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