KOTA KINABALU: Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal is the only Chief Minister of Sabah despite Tan Sri Musa Aman’s unwillingness to step down, according to a legal veteran here.
Retired High Court Judge Datuk Douglas Christo Primus said eventhough Musa, who was sworn in on Thursday before Shafie was installed last night, has all the rights to initiate a legal action, Shafie remained the Chief Minister.
“Sabah has two CMs; that is layman’s talk, but in reality, we have only one Chief Minister.
“The problem is Musa did not want to accept this after losing majority.
“We have to be practical in approaching this problem... And the reality is that Shafie has the majority, even if Musa succeeded in any legal action, if he does not have the numbers, he will still not be the CM.
“The question is, why would he want to pursue the court action when he is well aware that he does not have the majority?” stressed Douglas when contacted by NSTP.
He was responding to the current predicament following the Sabah Barisan Nasional chairman’s refusal of stepping down from the Chief Ministerial post as of yesterday, where Musa even held a state cabinet meeting with the line-up appointed.
Shafie, who led the Parti Warisan Sabah which has a pact with DAP and PKR, gained simple majority of 35 seats over 60 total state seats, after six assemblymen from BN switched sides.
Shafie, who was sworn in last night at Istana Negeri in front of Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Juhar Mahiruddin, attended his first official function as the Chief Minister, accompanying the TYT to a dragon boat race programme this morning.
Shafie however has yet to unveil the state cabinet line-up which he said he would address in the next one or two days.