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PUTRAJAYA: Thirty-three people, including Sabah’s current chief minister Hajiji Noor, are continuing their action to challenge the consent granted by state governor Juhar Mahiruddin to dissolve the state legislature in July, his lawyer said.
“They have not filed any suspension notice in their attempt to obtain permission to appeal against a decision of the Court of Appeals,” attorney Wilson Chang told FMT.
He said this in response to a Federal Court directive that those who wish to abandon their actions must file a discontinuation notice with documents signed by all parties.
All 33 people, including former Chief Minister Musa Aman, applied for a license for an appeal request in Federal Court on September 10.
The others include current Deputy Ministers Jeffrey Kitingan and Joachim Gunsalam, and Ministers Masidi Manjun, Jahid Jahim, Mohd Arifin Arif, and Ellron Alfred Angin.
There were doubts that some of the 33 applicants would not want to pursue the appeal after Gabungan Rakyat Sabah overthrew the Warisan government led by Shafie Apdal in the state elections on September 26.
On September 8, the Court of Appeal had upheld a High Court ruling rejecting authorization for judicial review to challenge the governor’s decision to call early elections.
Juhar had allowed then-Prime Minister Shafie’s request to dissolve the house on July 30 to pave the way for state elections.
A three-member appeals court chaired by Abdul Karim Jalil said Judicial Commissioner Leonard David Shim did not make an appealable error in rejecting the request for permission for judicial review on August 21.
He said that Juhar’s decision was not justiciable (it cannot be challenged in court) and that the dissolution was not subject to judicial review.
Musa and the 32 former assembly members took the position that Shafie could not advise the governor to dissolve the assembly because he had lost the majority support of the assembly members.
Musa, who was then an assemblyman from Sungai Sibuga, attempted to form a government with the support of 32 other assemblymen, including those who defected from the PKR and DAP.
Chang said the applicants wanted to go ahead with the action to amend the law, as the Court of Appeal had ruled that the dissolution could not be challenged regardless of whether Shafie had advised or requested Juhar.
“We want the Supreme Court to issue a ruling as it is a constitutional issue,” he said.
He said they had requested the December 8 hearing before a Federal Court court via videoconference that will be arranged early next year.
“Since it is a novel and complicated subject, we want to be physically present to make presentations to the judges,” he said.
