Sabah snap polls tug-of-war: What's happening on Monday?
The Sabah state assembly may have been dissolved but snap election is not yet a done deal.
Two major developments will happen on Monday (Aug 17) - one to stop the snap polls from happening and another will take Sabahans one step closer to the election.
In the morning, the Kota Kinabalu High Court will hear former Sabah chief minister Musa Aman's challenge against state governor Juhar Mahiruddin's decision consenting to...
The Sabah state assembly may have been dissolved but snap election is not yet a done deal.
Two major developments will happen on Monday (Aug 17) - one to stop the snap polls from happening and another will take Sabahans one step closer to the election.
In the morning, the Kota Kinabalu High Court will hear former Sabah chief minister Musa Aman's challenge against state governor Juhar Mahiruddin's decision consenting to the dissolution of the state assembly.
Thirty-three assemblyperson, including Musa, are arguing that Juhar was improperly advised when he refused to consider Musa, who had secured a simple majority through defections, as chief minister.
Sabah Chief Minister Shafie Apdal, in a bid to stave off the coup, had asked the governor to dissolve the state assembly, to which Juhar (photo) consented on July 30, paving the way for fresh polls within 60 days.
The Kota Kinabalu High Court first heard the matter on Aug 7 but judge Leonard Chin asked for more written submissions to see their arguments on whether the court has the jurisdiction to decide on the governor's powers to dissolve the state assembly.
The Sabah attorney-general is arguing that the dissolution of the state assembly is the absolute prerogative of the governor and cannot be challenged.
The judge will hear the submissions on Monday and could decide immediately, but a decision at a future date is more likely as judges would normally want time to consider the arguments.
Musa's group has yet to apply for a stay to prevent the Election Commission (EC) from proceeding with the state election but could still do so tomorrow.
However, any application won't get an immediate decision and will only be heard at a future date.
Meanwhile, the EC, led by deputy chairperson Azmi Sharom (above), will be convening at The Magellan Sutera Resort in Kota Kinabalu in the afternoon.
He is expected to call for a press conference after the meeting at 4pm.
By convention, it will be to announce the dates of the election.
It is unclear if the EC will proceed to announce the dates due to the ongoing court case.
However, as there is no stay yet, there is nothing to stop the EC from proceeding.
If the state election happens, a total of 73 state seats will be up for contest, up from 60 state seats in the 2018 general election.
This excludes the five state seats which are chosen by appointment and also have equal voting rights to an elected member, including in deciding on who should be the chief minister.
