SABAH Umno chief Bung Moktar Radin’s claim that Chief Minister Hajiji Noor cannot remain in office after leaving Bersatu has no legal basis, GRS secretary-general Masidi Manjun said today.

In a statement, the said Hajiji was constitutionally and legitimately sworn in as chief minister by the Sabah governor.

Bung had last night said that Hajiji was no longer qualified to hold the post of chief minister under article 6(3) and 6(7) of the Sabah Constitution.

“According to the Sabah constitution, the chief minister must be chosen from a party with the majority. He (Hajiji) is without a party, he is with GRS, which is a grand coalition party,” Bung said in a media conference last night.

Masidi refuted this, saying no single political party had won more than 50% of the 73 seats.

“Therefore, going by the High Court and Court of Appeal’s interpretation of article 6(7) of the state constitution, the Tuan Yang Terutama (TYT) observed that no single political party had won more than 50% of the state seats and thus correctly disregarded the article as inapplicable.

Masidi said a “majority” for the purposes of Article 6(7) meant more than 50% of the seats in the state assembly.

“The TYT then properly and correctly exercised his powers under article 6(3) and appointed Haji Hajiji Noor as the chief minister,” Masidi said.

Masidi said Sabah Barisan Nasional’s (BN) exit from the government had not resulted in the collapse of the state government.

He noted that Bersatu elected representatives who left the party last year are in GRS.

“There are more than enough assemblymen to form a majority and GRS is the largest political party in the Sabah assembly,” he said.

Last night Bung Moktar said he would inform Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim about BN’s decision to leave GRS.

He did not dismiss the possibility of the coalition working with Parti Warisan post-departure from GRS.

“We can work with any party as long as they are sincere,” he said.

The Sabah assembly has 79 lawmakers, 73 of them elected and six appointed.

With BN’s withdrawal of support, the Sabah government led by Hajiji now has the backing of 41 assemblymen, 29 of them in GRS, seven in Pakatan Harapan, three in Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat, one in Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah and an Independent.

Warisan has 19 seats and PAS, one. – January 7, 2023.