SABAH Umno will appeal to governor Juhar Mahiruddin not to dissolve the state assembly as the party believes it has the required number of lawmakers to form a new government.

Sabah Umno chief Musa Aman said he has the support of 33 of the state legislature’s 65 representatives, giving him a simple majority with which to form the government.

Musa said another election will strain public resources especially, while Malaysia is battling the Covid-19 pandemic.

This comes barely three hours after it was announced that the Sabah legislature will be dissolved to pave way for fresh polls.

Earlier today, Parti Warisan Sabah president Mohd Shafie Apdal said Juhar had consented to Shafie’s request to dissolve the state assembly.

“We are consulting with our lawyers on this and we will appeal to the TYT (governor) so that if possible, the state assembly need not be dissolved,” Musa said.

“We are not against the TYT’s decision. But this is our view. That there need not be another election due to the situation today.

“I believe this is also the public’s decision as they do not want to be further burdened. The coalition that we have now is enough to govern the state as we have a simple majority,” Musa said as he pointed to the 33 assemblymen gathered behind him.  

“We have a majority and in a democratic system, the majority rules. Why was the Dewan suddenly dissolved? We still have three years to go before the next election.”

The dissolution of the assembly has brought an end to the 26-month Parti Warisan Sabah government, which came to power after winning the 14th general election.

In a separate statement by Musa this morning, he said he had submitted the statutory declarations of 33 lawmakers who pledged their support to him as Sabah’s new chief minister.

Musa argued that the law was clear that he is qualified to be appointed as chief minister because he possesses the support of a majority of assemblymen.

“The government has the responsibility under the constitution to give due consideration as to whether I have the majority support necessary to form a government.”

In his press conference, Musa insisted that it was he and not Shafie who had the support of the majority of Sabah’s legislators. 

“We have 33 and there are a total of 65 lawmakers in the assembly. If Shafie says he has 35, then where are the extra assemblymen coming from?”

Musa also strenuously denied that any of the lawmakers supporting him had been enticed to switch camps from Warisan.

“There was no buying over of lawmakers. They are following me based on their feeling that we need to work together with the federal government so as to bring development and prosperity to Sabah.” – July 30, 2020.