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PUTRAJAYA: The Sabah election should be stopped as an “illegally installed prime minister” had advised the governor to dissolve the state assembly on July 30, the Federal Court heard today.
Lawyer Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin said former Prime Minister (CM) Musa Aman would not enjoy the fruits of his litigation if the supreme court declared his removal by the governor unconstitutional in May 2018.
The election should have been suspended until the Federal Court heard and resolved Musa’s appeal, he said in his presentation before a three-member court chaired by Abdul Rahman Sebli today.
The other judges are Zabariah Mohd Yusof and Mary Lim Thiam Suan.
Firoz will appear on behalf of former Tamparuli Assemblyman Jahid @ Noordin Jahim, who filed the request Tuesday to suspend Governor Juhar Mahiruddin’s decision to dissolve the assembly pending resolution of the “two top ministers” dispute between Musa and Shafie.
“There will be a political and constitutional crisis and people will feel cheated because an illegally installed prime minister (Shafie) had advised the governor,” he said.
He said that to avoid political turbulence and for convenience, the election was unconstitutional and unnecessary.
He said Musa had been waiting for a long time and had obtained permission from the Federal Court to hear the merits of his complaint, but then there was a dissolution to pave the way for an election.
On August 26, the Federal Court, in a 2-1 majority ruling, allowed Musa’s request for permission seeking a statement that he was the legitimate Chief Minister of Sabah after the conclusion of the 15 state elections in 2018 .
Firoz suggested that Musa’s appeal be heard and decided next week, while tomorrow’s nominations should be delayed.
“Elections can be held on or before September 28 to meet the 60-day deadline (to hold the polls) as required by the state constitution,” he said.
Attorney Cyrus Das, representing Shafie, said the request was an abuse of process because Musa’s appeal to the Federal Court has no connection to the dissolution.
“Jahid is linking the dissolution to an incident that occurred in May 2018 in which Musa was illegally removed as prime minister,” he said.
He said Jahid, a former minister in Musa’s cabinet, was only a collateral figure in the dispute over the governor’s removal of Musa.
“None of the 10 licensing questions posed in Federal Court to obtain a license touches on dissolution,” he said.
Das said the Court of Appeal on Tuesday had also affirmed the High Court’s conclusion that the dissolution of the house was not a matter the court had jurisdiction to hear.
Jahid was also one of 33 applicants who challenged the dissolution and the appeals court had also dismissed his oral stay to suspend the elections.
Das said Musa and Jahid should have requested a stay to halt the elections after the Federal Court granted Musa permission on August 26, as the Electoral Commission (EC) had issued a notice to hold the polls on August 17. .
“They ‘changed tracks’ to use the CM dispute pending before the Federal Court to stop the elections now,” he said.
Sabah’s attorney general Brenndon Keith Soh, who appeared as a friend of the court to the governor, said Jahid did not name the head of state as part of his suspension request, although the decision to dissolve the house came from Juhar.
Representing President Syed Abas Syed Ali and Secretary of the State Assembly Bernard J. Dalinting as defendants, Soh said that “the reset button had been set to elect assembly members and then to form the government.”
He said the state legislature would take shape within 120 days after the date of the state elections.
“If the polls are not held within that time, the establishment of the executive and legislative arms of government will be thwarted,” he said.
Federal lawyer Suzana Atan, who represented the EC, also as a friend of the court since Jahid did not name her as a party, said that all steps were being taken to hold the elections with nominations set for tomorrow.
The hearing continues at 3 pm.
