Not similar to Perak case, says Musa's counsel
Published on: Friday, November 29, 2019
Kota Kinabalu: Former Chief Minister Tan Sri Musa Aman’s counsel Dato' Anantham Kasinather submitted that the case at hand should not be referred to the Perak case but to the Ningkan case (Sarawak).
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He submitted that in the Perak case, there was an admission on the part of the Menteri Besar that he had lost the confidence and requested for a dissolution of the Perak State Assembly whereas there was none in Musa’s case.
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Anantham submitted that the first respondent’s action in terminating Musa’s appointment as Chief Minister after swearing him in a few days earlier on May 12, 2018 was unconstitutional. He said the action of the first respondent by summoning Musa and asking him to resign was an issue that needed to be examined as it was outside of the Article 7 (1) of the State Constitution.
Anantham urged the court to reject the preliminary objection by submitting that the issue was very much alive.
Tengku Fuad submitted that the question of law was whether the conduct of the Head of State was constitutional and that the matter on deciding whether Musa should no longer be Chief Minister should be left to the State Legislative Assembly.
He said Musa never resigned nor did he concede his position as chief minister.
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Tengku Fuad added that whether there was a consequence if the court were to rule in their favour was not the court’s burden.
“What happens in the future is not for this court to decide, that is for the state assembly or political leaders to decide.
“This is Sabah, whether you like it or not, you will have horsetrading or frog-leaping. We are dealing with unconstitutional conduct so it is not academic,” he said.
Meanwhile, S. Vanugopal, urged the court to dismiss the preliminary objection because there was no vote of no-confidence passed in the State Legislative Assembly against Musa.
State Counsel Zaleha supported the preliminary objection raised by Lind.
Adopting Lind’s submission, Zaleha added that it was no longer a live issue and that the matter was not relevant and that the appointment of the chief minister was the prerogative of the Sabah Head of State.
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