KOTA KINABALU, April 5 — The High Court here has set April 23 to decide on a lawsuit over the discrepancy between the 73 state assembly seats listed in Sabah’s constitution and the 60 that will be officially contested in the general election.
The suit was filed by two Sabah parties that are seeking to prevent Sabah from participating in the general election on the grounds that it would be a violation of the state constitution to omit the 13 seats from the polls.
However, judge Azhahari Kamal Ramli said the date was tentative and gave Zaleha Rose and Senior Federal Counsel Andi Razalizaya A. Dadi until April 20 to submit their documents.
Last week, Parti Cinta Sabah president Datuk Wilfred Bumburing filed the suit and applied for injunction to prevent the state from participating in the national polls until the discrepancy is resolved.
Earlier in the week, Sabah Progressive Party filed a suit to compel the prime minister to table the Election Commission’s proposal for 13 new Sabah seats in Parliament.
Azhahari said he will hear both cases together.
In 2016, the Sabah state assembly amended its state constitution to increase the amount of state seats from 60 seats to 73.
Aside from seeking to prevent Sabah from joining the general election, Bumburing and four others also want the courts to declare any state poll without all 73 seats to be unconstitutional.
Bumburing’s suit named the Sabah chief minister, the state government, the state assembly and the EC as respondents.
Separately, Sabah Progressive Party president Yong Teck Lee also filed a lawsuit to compel the prime minister to table the EC’s report in Parliament.
Parliament was dissolved on Saturday to pave way for the national polls.
Sabah was the first state to dissolve its assembly after the dissolution was announced.
