Senior lawyer S Venugopal disputed Shafie’s claim that Musa Aman was bound by law to relinquish his position after Warisan obtained the support of six more assemblymen, giving him a majority of votes in the state assembly.
Venugopal, who has written a book on the Constitutional Rights of Sabah and Sarawak, said there was nothing more that can be done now that Musa had been sworn in.
He said the Sabah head of state had the power under the state constitution to appoint the chief minister but had no power to remove him.
Even if Shafie was able to show that he has the support of a majority of assembly members, all that the governor would be able to do would be to urge Musa to tender his resignation, to allow a fresh next appointment to be made.
“We cannot have a state without a government. There is no ‘deadlock’ as far as Sabah is concerned. It is very clear. The appointment is complete with a state Cabinet in place.
“It’s not like ‘cowboy’ style where one can simply go to the palace and tell the governor that he has got the majority support, and, therefore, must be appointed and sworn in as chief minister,” he told the Daily Express newspaper.
“Removing the chief minister can only be done through a vote of no-confidence by the assembly members themselves. The chief minister is obliged to resign after he has lost a motion of no confidence in the legislature,” Venugopal was quoted as saying.
Shafie had urged Musa yesterday to step down or face the music.
“Musa does not hold the majority any more to stay in power, hence, he should resign from his post or else he would be in breach of the state constitution,” Shafie said.
“I don’t recognise last night’s (Thursday) swearing in of Musa nor the formation of the state government. So I do hope he steps down on his own accord.”
He said that Warisan and its partners in Pakatan Harapan now controlled 35 state seats, leaving Sabah BN with 25 seats.
Venugopal said it was up to the governor’s discretion whether to grant Shafie an audience to hear his claim.
Sabah gets new government, but Shafie says it’s not over yet