Sabah Speaker to decide on Warisan’s push for Sindumin seat vacancy after rep revokes pre-signed resignation letter

KOTA KINABALU: Parti Warisan Sabah has moved to "force a vacancy" in the Sindumin state seat after its incumbent assemblyman Datuk Dr Yusof Yacob quit the party on Oct 8.

The party's lawyers submitted the pre-signed resignation letter by Dr Yusof to the office of the Speaker of Sabah Legislative Assembly at 3.50pm Friday (Oct 15).

When contacted, Sabah assembly Speaker Datuk Kadzim Yahya confirmed that his office received the letter but he had also received a sworn affidavit from Dr Yusof revoking his pre-signed oath (Aku Janji pledges) made as a Warisan candidate.

"I have received a notification from the Sindumin assemblyman on Oct 8 informing me he was leaving Warisan and will be an independent assemblyman supporting the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) led by Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor," he said.

He added that Dr Yacob had also informed him that he had withdrawn the undated letter of his purported resignation.

"Give me some time to peruse the letter of both sides (Warisan and Dr Yusof). To be fair to both sides, I will be going through all the documents together with my deputies and assembly secretary to decide whether the Sindumin seat will be vacant or otherwise," he added.

The pre-signed resignation letter by Dr Yusof was part of the party's requirement for all their candidates contesting last year's Sept 26 snap Sabah elections.

A video of the candidates taking their oath of loyalty to the party and promising to vacate the seat in the event they crossover was also taken.

The video of Dr Yusof taking his oath was being spread in social media.

Dr Yusof, who quit the party to be an independent assemblyman supporting both the state and federal governments, could not be reached for immediate comment.

Warisan had attempted to vacate the Sebatik state seat by using a similar pre-signed letter of resignation after its assemblyman Hassan Amir Gani left the party on Feb 25 to support the GRS led state government.

However, state Kadzim rejected the pre-signed resignation letter after Hassan submitted a statutory declaration revoking all previously signed documents.

In making his decision at that time, Kadzim said that he decided against a vacancy for the Sebatik seat as "the letter was void and against public policy, as far as the law stands now”.

Warisan has since taken a civil suit against Hassan and the case is still pending at the High Court.