KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal has announced the dissolution of the State Legislative Assembly to pave the way for a state election, which has to be held within 60 days.
Mohd Shafie made the announcement today at the State administrative centre here after obtaining the consent of Sabah Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Juhar Mahiruddin.
Earlier, Mohd Shafie had an audience with Juhar at Istana Negeri, and a vehicle carrying the chief minister was seen entering the palace at 8.25am.
Mohd Shafie said he had sought and obtained the consent of Juhar to dissolve the state assembly.
“I will still be performing my duties as the chief minister during the period when the state assembly is dissolved,” he told a press conference after meeting state assemblymen and Members of Parliament from the government bloc.
Mohd Shafie said it was the people of Sabah, not other quarters, who would determine the state government.
The political situation in Sabah had heated up after former chief minister Tan Sri Musa Aman on Wednesday claimed that he had secured a simple majority to form a new state government.
The Sabah State Legislative Assembly has 65 seats, with the Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan)-led bloc controlling 45 seats and the opposition holding 20 seats.
The government bloc comprises Warisan (31 seats), DAP (six), Upko and PKR (two each) and four appointed assemblymen, while the opposition is made up of Bersatu (nine), PBS (four), STAR (three), Independent (two), Umno (one) and one appointed assemblyman.
The dissolution of the state assembly comes some 26 months after Mohd Shafie, the Warisan president, was appointed as the chief minister on May 12, 2018.
In the 14th general election (GE14), Warisan won 21 state seats while its allies from Pakatan Harapan (PH) won eight – six by DAP and two by PKR.
However, the total of 29 seats won by Warisan and PH then was short of the simple majority required to form the state government.
The Warisan-led bloc then gained six seats through defections by Barisan Nasional assemblymen, boosting its share to 35 seats in the state assembly and giving it the right to form the state government on a simple majority.
Following that, Mohd Shafie was sworn in as the 15th Chief Minister of Sabah at Istana Negeri on May 12, 2018, replacing the BN and STAR coalition led by Musa as the state government in a matter of 48 hours.
In GE14, BN won 29 seats and STAR took two seats. – Bernama
