BN sec-gen Annuar expects Sabah to give one nominated rep spot to PAS, two to Umno

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 1 — Barisan Nasional secretary-general Tan Sri Annuar Musa has said he expected political ally PAS to receive one of six openings for nominated assemblymen in Sabah, further suggesting that his own party Umno could get two.

Annuar, who is also an Umno supreme council member, then said the remaining three could go to Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) allies Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR), and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM or Bersatu).

“I believe a PAS representative will fill up one of 6 appointed ADUN. Maybe two more from Umno, three more from PBS STAR PPBM. Whatever it is, I wish to see female ADUN being appointed,” he wrote briefly on his official Twitter account last night, referring to the state assemblymen position by its Malay initials Adun.
 

Under the Sabah state constitution’s Article 14, the Sabah state legislative assembly is composed of 73 elected state assemblymen, and the Sabah state governor may appoint up to six nominated members to the state assembly.

The state government can recommend individuals for the nominated positions in the Sabah state legislative assembly.

Annuar’s remarks come after the Sabah state elections that just concluded days ago on September 26.

In the Sabah state elections where 73 state seats were up for grabs, the GRS alliance won 38 state seats to make simple majority and form state government, as opposed to its rival Warisan Plus which won 32 state seats. The three remaining seats were won by independent candidates.

While Bersatu and STAR had used the Perikatan Nasional’s logo with a collective win of 17 seats, Umno had used the BN logo with 14 seats while PBS had used its own party flag to contest and win seven seats.

PAS, which is also part of the Perikatan Nasional federal government with Bersatu and Umno, did not contest in the Sabah state elections.

There was initially uncertainty over who the GRS alliance would pick for the Sabah chief minister role, as Umno as a party was said to have won the most seats in the alliance with 14 seats, while Bersatu had won 11 seats.

On September 28, the GRS alliance eventually settled on Sabah Bersatu chief Datuk Hajiji Noor as its chief minister candidate, instead of Sabah BN chairman and Sabah Umno chief Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin who was previously also touted to be in the running for the position.

On September 29, Hajiji was sworn in as Sabah chief minister, while leaders from Bersatu’s allies were appointed as the state’s three deputy chief ministers ― Bung Moktar, STAR president Datuk Jeffrey Kitingan, and PBS vice-president Datuk Joachim Gunsalam.

While there was a sudden swap on the same day between Bung Moktar’s initial local government and housing minister post with Sabah Bersatu deputy chief Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun’s initial works minister post, but Bung Moktar denied that this was due to any internal tussle and said it was only a miscommunication.