Perak’s old crisis shows Musa has no case

KOTA KINABALU: A 2009 Court of Appeals decision on the rightful Mentri Besar for Perak is likely to make any legal challenge by Tan Sri Musa Aman on the position of Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal futile.

Legal and political observers said Musa, who refused to step down, is unlikely to win the legal battle.

Yang di-Pertua Negeri Sabah Tun Juhar Mahiruddin swore in Shafie on Saturday after Musa lost his majority in the Sabah State Assembly.

The precedent where a head of state could remove a chief minister or mentri besar was set by the courts in the case on the appointment of Barisan Nasional’s Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir who replaced Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin.

The three-man bench unanimously ruled that the late Perak Ruler Sultan Azlan Shah was right to have appointed Zambry on Feb 6, 2009 after determining that Nizar had ceased to command the confidence of the majority of assemblyman.

There was no requirement for a vote of confidence in the assembly.

Sabah political analyst Rahezzal Shah said the case is very similar to what is happening in Sabah and is likely to be used as a precedent if the appointment of Shafie is challenged by Musa.

He said the court had ruled that the sultan was entitled to ascertain the confidence of the majority of assemblymen by other means other than a vote of no-confidence in the assembly.

However, he said it would also depend on whether Musa had other fresh contentions to challenge his removal as Chief Minister.

Musa was sworn in on Thursday night after Barisan informed Istana Negeri that it had secured a 31-seat majority in the 60-member house.

But Musa lost his majority less than a day later when Shafie told Tun Juhar he had 35 assemblymen.

Musa, who was Sabah’s longest serving chief minister since 2003, vacated the Chief Minister’s official residence Seri Gaya an hour before Shafie’s swearing in at 9pm on Saturday.

However, Musa said that he did not resign.

Currently, Shafie’s Parti Warisan Sabah and its partners DAP, PKR and Upko hold 35 seats while the state opposition has 25 seats.

Warisan permanent chairman, Datuk V.K. Liew, who is Batu Sapi MP, said Musa’s previous appointment was automatically terminated after Shafie took his oath of office.

As such, he said there was no need to pass a motion of no confidence in the state assembly.