SANDAKAN – As far as Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) parties are concerned, they were told that lawyer Datuk Tengku Fuad Tengku Ahmad was never appointed by the Sabah government as its counsel in a judicial review filed by a lawyers group against the federal government over the state’s 40% grant revenue.
A GRS component party leader, Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia, said Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Md Noor told all coalition party leaders that the Sabah government never appointed Fuad as its counsel.
Pandikar, who is United Sabah National Organisation president, said Hajiji explained this to GRS component party presidents on May 17.
Pandikar added that he was later surprised that Fuad had received an appointment letter from the Sabah Attorney General’s (AG) Chambers dated June 8, 2022.
The letter stated Fuad’s appointment to represent the Sabah government in the judicial review filed by the Sabah Law Society (SLS) against the federal government.
“The explanation from the chief minister to GRS component party presidents on May 17, 2024, at 10am at Sri Gaya (Kota Kinabalu) was that Fuad does not have an appointment from the state government.
“It was thus shocking when I read the appointment letter,” Pandikar said in a statement today.
The day before Hajiji reportedly met GRS party chiefs, Fuad had made a surprise appearance at the Court of Appeal in Kota Kinabalu as counsel representing the Sabah government.
Fuad applied to intervene in the appeal filed by the federal government against the leave granted to SLS to seek a judicial review regarding the state’s 40% grant revenue.
Outside of court, Fuad reportedly said that SLS was a “busybody” that did not have a locus standi in filing the judicial review.
On the confusion, Pandikar said Sabah Attorney-General Datuk Nor Asiah Mohd Yusof should be held accountable for this matter, as Fuad’s appearance in court and his remarks outside of court had created a controversy.
Pandikar said that although Nor Asiah had made a statement saying that she would rectify “misguided statements” that did not reflect the Sabah government’s stance, it was no excuse for Fuad’s remarks outside of court.
“Hence, no matter how this matter is viewed, this controversy was caused by the negligence of the authorities related to this case, especially the state AG.
“The state secretary, Datuk Seri Safar Untong, should be held accountable, in line with his character – he has been showing that he was a ‘hands-on’ secretary in which he is well informed of all government administration matters,” he said.
Pandikar also said the state AG did not take the case seriously, even though it is very important for the people of Sabah.
He said Nor Asiah was out of the country during the hearing last Thursday, and not a single officer from the state AG’s Chambers was present to accompany Fuad at court.
“I think this action is a form of betrayal of the aspiration of the people of Sabah, who have been counting on the Sabah government’s lawyer to go against the federal government’s lawyer. But this is what happened instead,” he said. – May 20, 2024