KOTA KINABALU, Nov 9 — Despite flying in to Sabah two days ago, former chief minister Tan Sri Musa Aman was again conspicuously absent from the state assembly today.
Today was the state government’s tabling of the state Budget.
Musa, who was officially sworn in as Sungai Sibuga Assemblyman last September 5, has not attended any of the three assembly gatherings since the May 9 polls.
His colleagues in Gabungan Bersatu Sabah, formerly known as Barisan Nasional, were all present including Umno liaison chief Datuk Hajiji Noor and Sabah Parti Solidarity Tanah Airku president Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan.
There have been four sittings since then, including an emergency assembly on June 11, followed by a sitting on July 2 and one more on August 13.
“Well it’s up to him, he has the right to attend or not to attend,” said chief minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal.
“But to me, it’s time to move forward. We have been dragged by speculations and even branded an illegal government. We must move forward now and begin development so the state achieves progress,” he said.
Musa had on Wednesday lost a suit trying to nullify Shafie’s appointment as chief minister after the High Court judge here decided that the Head of State had the jurisdiction to decide on majority support based on extraneous evidence.
Musa was sworn in as chief minister on May 10 after attaining a thin majority first, but six defections later saw him lose majority support to Shafie. After almost six months, the judge delivered the decision two days ago.
Musa had said he would appeal the decision with the Court of Appeal.
The Parti Warisan Sabah and its allies, who have formed the state government, today tabled its first budget expenditure of RM4.16 billion against a revenue of RM4.27 billion.
The sitting will continue on Monday until November 15. It remains unclear whether Musa has left the state or will be attending the sitting.
