Two-term limit for Sabah Chief Ministers
Published on: Monday, October 03, 2022
Hajiji and other GRS leaders at the GRS roadshow in Telupid.
THE State Cabinet has agreed, in principle, to limit the term of office of future chief ministers to two terms and the relevant Bill will be tabled in the next State Legislative Assembly.Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor hoped all Assembly members whether in government or opposition would agree to amending the State Constitution regarding the matter.
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“I have proposed this matter and the State Cabinet has agreed,” he said.
He said limiting the term of office of the Chief Minister also involves legal issues.
“This proposal is also one of the initiatives brought by the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah-Barisan Nasional (GRS-BN) Government,” said Hajiji who is also GRS Chairman at the Jelajah GRS - Beluran Parliamentary at the Dataran Telupid in Telupid on Sept 24.
It was the GRS fourth tour in the series after Keningau, Kudat and Lahad Datu.
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Also present were leaders of the GRS component parties including the Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) President, Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili, United Sabah National Organisation (Usno) President Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia, Agriculture and Food Industry and Beluran MP Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee, Telupid Assemblyman and GRS Youth Leader Jonnybone J Kurum, who is also the Executive Chairman of the Tour Programme, and Labuk Assemblyman Samad Jamri, among others.
About 4,500 attendees including GRS youth members in Beluran and Telupid also attended the programme and met the GRS leadership.
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Hajiji said the GRS, which is made up of parties of multiple races and religious beliefs, is a platform for uniting the leaders and people of Sabah together to fight for the rights and interests of Sabah.
“The time has come for the leaders of Sabah’s local parties to unite in one vessel and fight to claim and safeguard the interests of Sabah,” he said.
“We will also not compromise in fighting for and demanding the rights of Sabah as enshrined in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63),” he stressed.
He said, the goal of GRS is to unify the local parties in the State and ensure that Sabah is developed and ruled by local parties in the future.
“We need to learn from past experiences. In politics, look how we are when we are divided. Because of that, the time has come for the people of Sabah, the local political parties in Sabah must join together in a coalition that we call GRS,” he said.
“The aim is to ensure Sabah moves forward and Sabah Maju Jaya in the future. This is very important because if we are divided, it is impossible for us to succeed.
“If we are not united in one coalition, it is impossible for us to succeed in politics, let alone to develop Sabah in the future,” he stressed.
Hajiji also called for GRS machineries to be activated in all areas to face the 15th General Election (GE15) which would be held anytime now.
He said, the GRS machinery must go down to the villages to enlighten the people about the goals and struggles of the GRS.
In the same development, he also asked the people of Beluran to ensure that the candidate chosen to represent GRS wins the Beluran parliamentary seat in the GE15.
Hajiji said since he was given the mandate as the Chief Minister under the GRS and their friend BN as well as those friendly to GRS, over the last two years, many challenges have also been faced including during the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said the mandate given by the people after the last state election also gave encouragement to the state leadership to continue to ensure that the efforts and slogan of Sabah Maju Jaya are achieved for the good of the people as a whole.
Meanwhile, Jonnybone said the initiative to establish GRS coincided in stabilising the state where the component parties are under one roof and continue to unite in efforts to develop the state and fight for its rights together.
He said this stability is also important in attracting more investors to Sabah.
“We all play a role and hold the key to this stability together,” he said.
On the proposed two-term limit for a chief minister, he said it has its pros and cons, but he agrees with the proposal in general.
He said if a Chief Minister is a very dedicated leader and has a very good vision for the State and the people, there is no need to replace the Chief Minister according to the time limit.
Ronald said GRS Beluran is ready to face the General Election at any time. He said they are always ready and united in fighting for the rights of Sabah, including ensuring the MA63 is realised.
Regarding the proposed two-term term limit for the Chief Minister, he said there is undoubtedly a rationale for the proposal.
At the same event, Pandikar said that after the last state election, Usno was one of the first to submit an application to the GRS for them to join the coalition as a component party.
What is important, he said, is that the current Government needs to continue to keep its promises and not be like the previous government which just took the reins but did not implement the promises.
He said politics now is also quite different from the past where experience is not evaluated but the candidate is looked at. Therefore, he hopes the people would be wise to judge which leaders or representatives are truly sincere and not just to gain popularity.
Regarding GRS, he said it is the best platform because it itself shapes the administration and development of this state and knows what is best for the people.
“GRS is its ship, and its chairman is the captain. Let’s work together to develop this state,” he said.
Ongkili said young leaders in GRS are also among the efforts to bring the voice and aspirations of the people apart from them learning politics as well as possible.
“Let’s continue to hold this GRS coalition together with young and old leaders. Let’s fight for the rights under MA63 together,” he said.
For the record, Tan Sri Musa Aman (Umno) was the longest serving CM having served 15 years (2003-2018) while Tun Mustapha (Usno), Tan Sri Harris Salleh (Berjaya) and Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan all served nine years each.
The two-year rotation of the CM post introduced in 1994 saw Umno (Tun Sakaran and Datuk Salleh Said Keruak), SAPP (Datuk Yong Teck Lee), PDS (Tan Sri Bernard Dompok, later Upko), Umno (Tan Sri Osu Sukam) and LDP (Tan Sri Chong Kah Kiat) taking turns to hold the post.
Warisan President Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal held the post for two years from 2018 until several members defected to the opposition and the state election that followed saw Hajiji, who led the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) coalition, emerging as next CM.
This made Sabah the state having the most number of CMs since independence through Malaysia in 1963. The first appointed CM Donald (later Tun Fuad Stephens) only held the post for 15 months when serious political differences with first Governor Tun Mustapha, forced Kuala Lumpur to appoint Tan Sri Peter Lo to be caretaker CM from January 1965 till the first State election in 1967 which was won by Usno.
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