Post-Sabah Bersatu exodus, is Hajiji’s CM post hanging by a thread?

KOTA KINABALU – The Sabah Bersatu exodus yesterday did not only spark questions on the position of the four MPs who were party members and had won under GRS tickets, but had also brought scrutiny upon the status of current Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.

Warisan’s deputy president Datuk Darell Leiking said Hajiji, who now does not have a party after leaving Bersatu, is in an unclear position and should go back to the state assembly to check his majority.

Leiking said the Sabah head of state should recall Hajiji’s appointment and seek clarification from all the Sabah assembly members if Hajiji indeed has majority support.

“GRS was formed after the Sabah election in 2020, and had won 38 out of the 73 state seats. But out of the numbers, 17 were won by Perikatan Nasional (PN), 14 by Barisan Nasional (BN), and seven by PBS.

“Hajiji did not contest the Sabah election under GRS but as Bersatu members under PN. It was PN and BN that formed the Sabah government. 

“Now that Hajiji (and 14 other assemblymen) no longer have a party, his position is questionable,” he told The Vibes.

Leiking said according to Article 6(3) of the Sabah constitution, Hajiji should not even be the chief minister anymore.

Under Article 6(3) of the Sabah constitution, the Yang di-Pertua Negeri shall appoint as chief minister a member of the assembly who, in his judgement, is likely to command the confidence of a majority of the members of the assembly.

The head of state shall also appoint the other members to the state cabinet in accordance with the advice of the chief minister from among the members of the assembly.

However, Article 6(7) states that the leader of a political party that has won a majority of the elected seats of the assembly shall be the member of the assembly, who is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of the assembly.

He said the words “the leader of a political party which has won a majority of elected seats”, referring to Warisan president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal, as Warisan was the party with the most number of seats – 29 seats at the time.

“Sadly, we never challenged it somehow (at the time),” he said.

Asked if he thinks now is the right time to bring up the matter after the Sabah Bersatu exodus, he replied: “I stand by my opinion and hope the Yang di-Pertua Negeri acts on his discretion to seek for Hajiji to declare his majority”.

Hajiji’s exit won’t make a dent in his chief minister post

Meanwhile, constitutional and public lawyer Datuk Tengku Fuad Tengku Ahmad stressed that the 15 Bersatu Sabah assemblymen quitting the party does not affect the position of Hajiji as the chief minister.

He said the GRS-BN coalition still remains intact with 46 assemblymen, and in addition, seven Sabah Pakatan Harapan reps have expressed support to Hajiji as the chief minister.

“It is also understood that three Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat assemblymen and one independent stand in firm support of the GRS-BN government.

“Hajiji clearly has the support of 57 assemblymen, which is a majority in the 79-member assembly, and thus continues to enjoy the confidence of the assembly in accordance with Article 6(3) of the Sabah constitution,” he said in a statement today.

Tengku Fuad, who is also a legal adviser to the Sabah government, said this in response to Leiking’s statement above.

He also said that the four GRS MPs will not lose their seats, because they contested as GRS candidates, and not under PN or Bersatu.

“There is no breach of Article 49A of the federal constitution, as the four MPs were elected under GRS,” he added. – The Vibes, December 11, 2022