At 2.30pm, Musa had an audience with Sabah Yang di-Pertua Negeri Juhar Mahiruddin to get his consent for the dissolution of the state assembly.
“He has agreed to the dissolution of the state assembly from tomorrow, April 7,” he said at a press conference at the chief minister’s official residence.
Asked about the legality of holding the state elections with only 60 seats despite the state constitution providing for 73 seats, Musa said the issue will not affect the election.
“The pending legal suit does not prevent the dissolution of the assembly and the existing 60 state seats are still legal, notwithstanding the amendment (to the constitution). This is because Parliament has not approved the additional seats nor has the King issued the order for the additional seats,” he said.
So far, two lawsuits have been filed, one by Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) president Yong Teck Lee and the other by Parti Cinta Sabah (PCS) president Wilfred Bumburing, to compel both the state and federal governments to either annul the new seats or adopt them for the state elections.
Prime Minister Najib Razak announced the dissolution of Parliament, effective tomorrow, in Putrajaya at 12.15pm today.
Barisan Nasional has 46 seats in the current state assembly, held by Umno (28), PBS (7), Upko (3), PBRS (2), Liberal Democratic Party (3), Gerakan (2) and MCA (1).
Three seats are vacant due to the death of the incumbents.
The Apas seat fell vacant after Sabah youth and sports minister Tawfiq Abu Bakar Titingan, 56, of Umno died on March 14.
The Paginatan assemblyman, Sabah resource development and information technology minister Siringan Gubat, 68, of Upko passed away on March 21.
Umno lost a second assemblyman last year with the death of Mohd Suhaili Said who represented Tungku.
There is a BN-friendly independent assemblyman, Jelani Hamdan.
The opposition has 10 seats, shared among Parti Warisan Sabah (3), PKR (2), DAP (1), Parti Cinta Sabah (1), Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah (1), Parti Anak Negeri Sabah (1) and Solidariti Tanahairku (Star) (1).