Sabah polls should proceed after High Court rejection of judicial review

KOTA KINABALU, Aug 21 2020: The signs of a some changes in Malaysia are undeniable with the High Court dismissing an application to stop the Sabah polls.

The High Court dismissed the application for a judicial review by 33 Sabah assemblymen against Sabah Governor Juhar Mahiruddin’s consent to dissolve the state assembly.

The Yang Dipertua Negeri dissolved the state legislative assembly on July 30.

The 33 assemblymen immediately filed an appeal against the court’s decision.

They were led by former chief minister Tan Sri Musa Aman, who is the assemblyman for Sungai Sibuga.

Nevertheless, legal experts are calling for the elections to proceed in Sabah.

Universiti Malaysia Sabah senior lecturer Dr Lee Kuok Tiung told NST the Election Commission could not wait for the court decision as the hearing took time.

Any attempt to delay the democratic process, he added, was a violation of the democratic system.

Judicial Commissioner Leonard David Shim found that the second respondent in the case – Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal – had acted within the Sabah Constitution.

Shafee had requested the first respondent – Sabah Yang Dipertua Tun Juhar Mahiruddin – to dissolve the state assembly.

“And the first respondent (Tun Juhar) had acted within the ambit of his constitutional power to dissolve the state assembly,” he said.