High Court to hear submissions on Musa’s legal action

(FMT) – The High Court will hear today the oral submissions on legal action brought by former Sabah chief minister Musa Aman to challenge Shafie Apdal’s appointment as the new chief minister on May 12.

Counsel Douglas Lind, representing Shafie, said all parties had filed their written submissions to the court.

The case will be heard before justice Yew Jen Kie today.

On Aug 24, Yew dismissed Shafie’s application to strike out an originating summons filed by Musa after ruling that Musa had raised questions of law which rendered the summons unsuitable to be summarily struck out.

He ordered all parties to file their written submissions before he made the decision.

Shafie filed the striking out application on June 5 on grounds that Musa had no valid reason to challenge his appointment as the new chief minister.

An originating summons requires no trial. Lawyers from both parties will file submissions and affidavits to argue their cases. A writ of summons meanwhile requires a trial with witnesses called to testify.

Musa initially filed a writ of summons on May 17, but subsequently withdrew it. In June, he filed the originating summons seeking a court declaration that he is the rightful chief minister of Sabah, appointed on May 10 by Yang Di Pertua Negeri Juhar Mahiruddin.

In the originating summons, Musa named Juhar as the first defendant and his successor, Shafie, as the second. He also sought a declaration that the May 12 appointment of Shafie as chief minister was illegal.

Musa was sworn in as chief minister on May 10 after securing a simple majority in the 14th general election. However, he lost the majority when several assemblymen from Umno and Upko jumped ship to support Shafie’s party, Warisan.