Junz Wong: Warisan still holds two-third majority in Sabah govt despite two Upko reps leaving

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah government is still solid with a two-thirds majority despite two Upko assemblymen leaving the coalition, says Parti Warisan Sabah vice-president Datuk Junz Wong in a statement on Monday (June 15).

"The Sabah government still commands 41 out of 60 Sabah state assembly seats whereas Perikatan Nasional, including the two that jumped today, has only 19.

"This is not inclusive of the five appointed assemblymen, he said, adding that the state government could swear in a sixth nominated assemblyman whose position is yet to be filled.

Under the Sabah constitution, apart from the 60 elected representatives, the Chief Minister can request for the nomination of six nominated assemblymen whose powers are similar elected representatives.

The constitution also allows for the nominated assemblymen's votes to be counted in a vote of confidence on the state government. So far only five were appointed and one remains vacant.

Wong, who is the state assemblyman for Tanjung Aru, said that it is important for everyone to “discern between sentiment and facts.”

“I know there has been a lot of talk which is sentiment-driven. But if you look at facts and look at the numbers, the Warisan-led Sabah government is intact, ” he said.

Junz, who is also the Sabah Agriculture and Food Industry Minister, said that the majority of Sabahans want to focus on rebuilding Sabah instead of being part of a federal power play.

"Sabahans are actually very sick of all these manoeuvres that started in peninsular Malaysia. We do not want to be a part of it.

"We, the majority of Sabahans and the leadership of the Sabah government want to focus on rebuilding our homeland," he added.

Earlier on Monday, Upko Kuala Penyu assemblyman Datuk Limus Jury and Datuk James Ratib (Sugut) quit Upko to become independents aligned with Perikatan Nasional.