THE swearing-in of 19 Sabah assemblymen on June 12 did not follow procedures, and so, had to be done again, said Chief Minister Mohd Shafie Apdal.

He said the reps, who won on Barisan Nasional and Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (Sabah Star) tickets, did not heed the state constitution and state assembly standing order.

“(According to protocol,) they must be sworn in during the first assembly sitting, unless there’s approval by the head of state to hold an emergency sitting like the one we had on June 11,” he said after attending the first state assembly sitting in Kota Kinabalu today.

“Not only this, but when they were sworn in on June 12, the head of state was not informed and the state seal was not in front of them.”

Sabah Star president Jeffrey Kitingan said the assemblymen agreed to have themselves sworn in again after receiving a memo from the state assembly office instructing them to do so.

All the reps, except Sibuga assemblyman Musa Aman, who is also Sabah BN chairman, was present at the swearing-in ceremony held about 8am today.

Apas assemblyman Nizam Abu Bakar Titingan was among those present. He was absent on June 12, when the other reps went to the state speaker’s office, as he was performing the umrah in Mecca.

Shafie said it is the assemblymen’s responsibility to play the role of the opposition and assist Sabahans who had voted for them in the 14th general election.

“They have the right to attend the sitting because they have taken their oath.

“They can pose as many questions as they want to the chief minister, as long as it is allowed by the state speaker.

“We want them to respect the procedures. We don’t want this trend of getting themselves sworn in by just going to the speaker’s chambers, without following procedures.” – July 2, 2018.