KOTA KINABALU, July 29 ― Former chief minister Tan Sri Musa Aman has claimed he has the numbers to topple the state government.

In a short press conference at his home today, the former Sabah Barisan Nasional chairman said that he has enough support from assemblymen to form a simple majority in the 65-member state legislative assembly.

He told reporters that he was going to meet the Head of State, Yang Dipertua Negeri Tun Juhar Mahiruddin at Istana Negeri to provide the statutory declarations which show his support.

He also said that Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin had met Juhar earlier today to inform him of the new political block's formation.

"He asked me to come up with the relevant statutory declarations from the assemblymen to confirm their support. I have received the statutory declarations to support me in this new state government alliance of various parties,” he told reporters at a hastily arranged press conference at 6.30pm today.

Musa, however, did not give the exact number or name the men who defected from the Warisan-led government to join him. Based on a cursory observation, there were 32 assemblymen, including Musa himself, present during the press conference.

Before the crossover, he had 20 elected representatives from Umno and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia supporting him. Based on the headcount, at least 12 have defected from Warisan, Upko, DAP and PKR.

PKR Inanam assemblymen Keny Chua, DAP’s nominated assemblyman Ronnie Loh, Balung assemblyman Datuk Osman Jamal, Upko’s Paginatan assemblyman Datuk Abidin Mandingkir, Warisan’s Tempasuk assemblyman Datuk Musbah Jamli, Tandek assemblyman Datuk Anita Baranting, Pitas assemblyman Datuk Bolkiah Ismail, Tanjung Batu assemblyman Hamisah Samat, Sebatik assemblyman Datuk Muis Picho, Kuamut assemblyman Datuk Masiung Banah and Labuk assemblyman Datuk Abdul Rahman Kongkawan were among those seen.

"I would like to thank those who have stood by me consistently all this while. I do not expect anything except for commitment and dedication from all the elected representatives in serving the people,” he said.

He also said that he would work with the federal government to bring the state out of its economy downturn, which he blamed on the Warisan administration and the Covic-19 pandemic.