Palace Governor Did Not Receive Sds Backing Musa Nor Request For Audience

---

The Sabah palace has denied the claim of receiving 33 statutory declarations (SD) supporting Musa Aman as the Perikatan Nasional choice for chief minister of the state
This was in response to Gerakan Akar Umbi Umno Malaysia (Gaum) chairperson Zulkarnain Mahdar's claim that Governor Juhar Mahiruddin had received the SDs himself
"The palace vehemently denies this accusation,” the governor's private secretary Abinan Asli (photo, above) told a press conference in Kota Kinabalu today
He claimed that the accusation, which he described as untrue and baseless, was made with bad intentions
"The governor never received the 33 SDs before signing the declaration to dissolve the state legislative assembly
"The palace also never received any request - be it official or unofficial - from Musa for an audience with the governor,” he added
According to him, Musa and several state assemblypersons who supported him had attempted to gain entry into the palace by force on July 30 but were stopped by the police
Abinan clarified that the palace did not instruct the police to stop Musa from entering
"After taking into consideration the tension at the time and given the fact there was no need for Musa's envoy to have an audience with him following the dissolution of the state legislative assembly, the governor did not consent for them to enter the palace," he added
Expressing regret over the fake news being peddled concerning this issue, Abinan urged the public to be cautious of such fraudulent claims
Zulkarnain had also accused the governor of abusing his powers to dissolve the state legislative assembly despite knowing that the incumbent Chief Minister Mohd Shafie Apdal had lost a simple majority
Shafie, who is the Warisan president, had dissolved the state legislative assembly on July 30 after obtaining consent from Juhar, paving the way for fresh state polls. - Mkini

---