The Malaysian Insight

THE Federal Court has yet to fix a date to hear an appeal by Musa Aman on his claim to be Sabah’s rightful chief minister, said his aides.

Meanwhile, lawyers for Musa’s rival, Mohd Shafie Apdal, said the apex court will set a date later this month or next month for the appeal to be heard, likely in September.

The appeal is against Yang di-Pertua Negeri Juhar Mahiruddin’s decision on May 12 last year to sack Musa and appoint Parti Warisan Sabah president Shafie as chief minister.

Last November, the Kota Kinabalu High Court dismissed Musa’s suit.

The former chief minister’s aides told The Malaysian Insight that he wants the Federal Court to make a ruling on Juhar’s powers to appoint and dismiss a chief minister.

Shafie’s lawyers confirmed that both parties are waiting for the court to fix a date to hear Musa’s appeal.

“The court is checking with Musa’s lawyers on their submissions. It’s a routine procedure that we have to wait,” said Warisan lead counsel Douglas Lind.

He said he expects the top court to fix a date either late this month or next month for the matter to be heard, adding that the court could hear the appeal in September.

Musa was sworn in as chief minister with a simple majority a day after the general election on May 9 last year.

His appointment was then revoked by Juhar, and Shafie was sworn in barely 48 hours later after securing a larger majority due to assemblymen’s crossovers.

On another development, Lind said the Federal Court has fixed June 26 to hear an appeal for the Sipitang election petition.

The polls had gone in favour of incumbent Yamani Hafez Musa, who contested under the Umno-Barisan Nasional banner. Yamani is Musa’s son.

The Election Court on April 9 struck out the bid after petitioner Noor Hayaty Mustapha’s counsel failed to file the required documents within the set time frame.

Judge Azhahri Kamal Ramli also denied the petitioner’s request to postpone the trial.

In last year’s elections, Yamani won the parliamentary seat with an 852-vote majority, defeating candidates fielded by Warisan and Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah.

Lind said the Kimanis election petition is ongoing, adding that Warisan has a good chance of winning both the Kimanis and Sipitang petitions.

The Kimanis petition was filed by Warisan candidate Karim Bujang, challenging the victory of Anifah Aman, who contested on a BN ticket and won the federal seat with a 156-vote majority.

Anifah beat Karim and Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah’s Jaafar Ismail, who received 11,786 and 1,300 votes, respectively. – June 10, 2019.