Kota Kinabalu: Parti Warisan will be submitting a private member’s bill to reinstate Article 6(7) with clarity on the meaning of “majority” during the upcoming State Assembly sitting.
Warisan supreme council member Chen Ket Chuin said it is to prevent any party leader with no majority of seats to be the next Chief Minister.
“Article 6(7) of the Sabah Constitution was repealed on the advice of Tengku Fuad as the legal advisor to the State Government on the ground that the said Article was the root cause of political instability and constitutional uncertainty in Sabah.
“In fact, at the material times, Fuad was advising the State Government on the Anti-Hop Law but at the same time made an excuse to remove Article 6 (7).
“Article 6(7) was introduced to stop power grab when Tun Mustapha Harun used the six nominated assemblymen to claim majority to get the then Governor to swear him in as the Chief Minister.
“Clearly, with the provision of Article 6(7), the legislative members are stopped from using the six nominated assemblymen to claim a majority.
“Article 6(7) had served Sabah well for generations and hence, Fuad’s statements were wrong,” he said.
Chen argues that with the repealing of Article 6(7) and without any reinstatement, the leader of a political party which has only won one seat in a coalition can be appointed as the Chief Minister against the mandate of the people in Sabah.
“If this happens, it is not hard to imagine many political parties with more than one elected member will be going to court to determine who should be the rightful Chief Minister.
“This will lead the State into political mayhem without any leadership for a long time,” he said.
