KOTA KINABALU: The proposal to remove an Article in Sabah’s Constitution to check on power grabs by losing parties should be scrapped and replaced with a more clear definition, says former chief minister Datuk Yong Teck Lee.
He said Article 6(7) that provides a guide for the Governor to appoint the leader of the party with the largest number of seats to be Chief Minister was no longer relevant and needs to be revamped.
"I am suggesting that Article 6(7) be removed and we create a multi-party committee to relook and replace Article 6(7)," said Yong, a nominated assemblyman with the ruling Gabungan Rakyat Sabah.
The Sabah Progressive Party president said the discussions should establish whether the winner of an election is first past the post or with absolute majority.
He said the committee must discuss and come up with clear definitions for the Governor to appoint a Chief Minister before the next state elections.
He said the current wordings in Article 6(7) was vague and did not give definitive guidance to the Yang di-Pertua Negeri to appoint a Chief Minister.
He said in the Article, it states that there was a need for clear definition on who is the winner.
Article 6(7), which gives the Governor a guide on the appointment of the Chief Minister, reads, "Where a political party has won a majority of the elected seats of the Legislative Assembly in a general election, the leader of such political party, who is a member of the Legislative Assembly, shall be the member of the Legislative Assembly who is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of the Assembly.”
Objections were raised over removing the clause by Opposition assemblymen who only wanted to support the proposed anti-party hopping Bill tabled by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor on Thursday (May 25).
Datuk Darell Leiking (Warisan-Moyog) and Assaffal Alian (Warisan-Tungku) asked Yong whether it was better to delay the deletion of Article 6(7) and instead form the committee to discuss the definition to replace it.
To which, Yong replied that there was no need to delay and allow for it to be deleted as it was already part of the same Bill.
"Whether Article 6 (7) is or not in the state Constitution, I can sleep well but if you read the explanation on the Article, it is no longer relevant with the present situation," he said this during the Sabah assembly sitting.
