THE Sabah assembly today rejected a motion to debate the sultanate of Sulu heirs issue submitted by state opposition leader Mohd Shafie Apdal.

Speaker Kadzim M. Yahya the motion was rejected based on rule 23 (2), which requires motions to be submitted within 24 hours of the start of the session.

“As this motion was submitted at 11.25am, which does not meet the 24-hour requirement, it is rejected according to rule 23 (2),” he said.

Shafie, the assemblyman for Senallang and MP for Semporna, then requested the motion be debated on any of the four-day assembly sitting, citing the issue of Sabah’s sovereignty.

“It does not have to be debated today, maybe it can be done on Thursday. This issue has been haunting us for 65 years. I am not recognising the Sulu sultanate, but we have laws and I will also be bringing this to Parliament next week,” he said.

However, Kadzim said Shafie should raise the matter in Parliament, saying that as it involves the federal government, the issue should be handled at that level. – Bernama, July 18, 2022.