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PETALING JAYA: A lawyer urged the governor of Sabah not to allow Warisan to form a minority government, saying it would interfere with the democratic process.
Tengku Ahmad Fuad, who is Sabah PPBM’s chief legal adviser, said that Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) and three independent candidates had 41 seats in the 73-seat assembly.
GRS comprises National Alliance (PN), Barisan Nasional (BN), PBS, STAR, and SAPP.
Supporters of Warisan, who won 29 seats, have argued that the party can form a government with its president, Shafie Apdal, appointed as prime minister on the grounds that it is the only party with the largest number of seats in the elections.
“However, by natural logic and a solid understanding of the law, it is clear that Article 6 (3) of the Sabah State Constitution requires that a candidate have majority confidence in the state assembly and not simply on the basis of which single party has won the most seats in the elections, despite not having the confidence of the majority in the assembly, ”said Tengku Ahmad.
He said that if it was preferred that the single party with the most seats could form a government, party coalitions would be useless and would defeat the purpose of political democracy.
He said Article 6 (7), which Warisan supporters trust “precariously”, does not apply in the current circumstances and speaks of his desire to take power illegitimately.
Tengku Ahmad said that in the case of former Prime Minister Musa Aman against Governor Juhar Mahiruddin and Shafie over the legitimate prime minister, the High Court had ruled that for a prime minister to be appointed, he must have the confidence of the majority of the elected seats of the Assembly.
“Superior Court Judge Yew Jen Kie went on to say that the word ‘majority’ in Article 6 (7) means more than half (50%). It does not mean “most”.
“Unless a party has won more than 50% of the seats, Article 6 (7) does not take effect. Therefore, under the Sabah State Constitution, the governor has no legal basis for appointing Shafie Apdal as prime minister as Warisan only won 29 seats in DUN, ”he said.
He said the governor had set a precedent in 2018 when he did not allow BN, a single registered party, to form a minority government.
The governor, he said, also set a precedent by allowing a flexible coalition made up of Warisan, PKR, DAP and Upko to form the government in 2018.
“If he allowed Warisan to form a minority government after these elections, it would have effectively interfered with Sabah’s democratic processes and practices and would have denied those who have been duly elected by the people to form a government,” added Tengku Ahmad.
