All Sabah assemblymen, except Musa Aman, are sworn in

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Tan Sri Musa Aman is the only state assemblyman yet to take his oath of office.
All the other BN assemblymen and those friendly to BN were sworn in today in the presence of Sabah State Legislative Assembly Speaker Datuk Ahmad Abdul Rahman, in a ceremony which began at about 8.30am, before the start of the First Meeting of the First Session of the 15th Sabah State Assembly here.
Parti Solidariti president Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan said he received a letter from the office of the Speaker of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly dated June 17 to attend the ceremony today to be sworn in.
"We abided by the Speaker's instructions," he told reporters after attending the opening of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly sitting, here today.
Jeffrey said the Speaker of the Sabah State Assembly and his two deputies were present at the swearing-in ceremony.
Meanwhile, Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal said the representatives from BN and several other parties were sworn in again this morning in compliance with the State Constitution.
He said that under the procedure of the assembly sittings, it was necessary for the Yang Dipertua Ngeri to be informed and the swearing-in held before the state mace to symbolise that the Yang Dipertua Ngeri had given his consent.
"Not that the previous (swearing-in of the BN representatives) ceremony is not valid, but it did not comply with the regulations," he told reporters when met after the opening of the 15th Sabah State Assembly by Sabah Yang Dipertua Tun Juhar Mahiruddin.
Mohd Shafie said that under the regulations for the state assembly sittings, the swearing-in ceremony of the assemblymen must be held at the first meeting of the State Legislative Assembly.
"We do not want to set a precedence where, after an election, two or three people enter the Speaker's Chambers to be sworn in because there must be a notification, the Yang Dipertua Negeri must have knowledge (of the event) and the mace must be there as a symbol of the Yang Dipertua Ngeri's authority, which is handed down to the Speaker empowering him to preside over the assembly," he said.
At about 8am today, all the people's representatives allied to Sabah BN chairman Musa Aman, except Musa himself, were sworn in again as state assemblyman in the presence of Sabah Assembly Speaker before the opening of the First Session of the 15th Sabah State Assembly.
On June 11, all the 43 Warisan assemblymen, including the four appointed assemblymen, led by Parti Warisan Sabah president Mohd Shafie attended a special sitting of the Sabah Assembly and were sworn in. They also approved a vote of confidence in Mohd Shafie as the chief minister.
However, all the 21 state assemblymen from Umno and the former BN component parties such as PBS, PBRS, UPKO and Solidariti allied to Musa were not present at the special sitting.
The next day (June 12), 19 of the 21 assemblymen took their oath in the presence of the Sabah Assembly Speaker.
Musa, who is Sungai Sibuga state assemblyman, is currently reportedly undergoing medical treatment in the United Kingdom. — Bernama