Shafie: Fresh polls within 60 days, voters can decide between Musa and me
Shafie Apdal has announced that Sabah Governor Juhar Mahiruddin has agreed to dissolve the state assembly and he will remain as the caretaker chief minister until a fresh election is held.
The Warisan president said the polls would be held within the next 60 days as stipulated by the state constitution to allow voters to decide if the mandate should remain with him or returned to his predecessor Musa Aman.
Shafie Apdal has announced that Sabah Governor Juhar Mahiruddin has agreed to dissolve the state assembly and he will remain as the caretaker chief minister until a fresh election is held.
The Warisan president said the polls would be held within the next 60 days as stipulated by the state constitution to allow voters to decide if the mandate should remain with him or returned to his predecessor Musa Aman.
"Ladies and gentlemen, after I wrote the letter yesterday, I went to meet the governor in the evening to present the letter (seeking for the dissolution of the state assembly).
"And this morning, I had an audience with him again, where the governor had given his agreement for the dissolution of the state assembly," Shafie told reporters in Kota Kinabalu this afternoon.
Shafie said the Election Commission would announce the date of the state election.
The announcement came a day after Musa, who is from Umno, held a press conference claiming that he had gathered enough state assemblypersons to form the state government with a simple majority.
Shafie told reporters today that he made the decision to suggest for a dissolution of the state assembly to allow Sabahans to decide who should form their government.
He claimed that there had been attempts to pressure Warisan into supporting the Perikatan Nasional coalition which had taken over federal power after toppling Pakatan Harapan in February.
Several state representatives who used to support the Warisan state government had also allegedly been bought over to support Musa, Shafie added.
"I saw that the time had come for us to return the choice back to the people of Sabah.
"And I hope with this situation, everybody will remain calm and we will make sure that we face this challenge.
"The constitution sets 60 days (for elections to be held) and the EC will determine when," he said.
Shafie added that under the constitution of the state and the country, he would continue as caretaker chief minister until a new government is elected.
He urged the people to make use of the opportunity to choose wisely when polling day comes.
"When the date and time comes, we will make the choice. So, the choice to be made must be the right one, either you want to choose Musa Aman, (Bung) Moktar Radin, or Hajiji (Noor), Anifah Aman, or Shafie Apdal," he said.
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