Chong's position contested in Sabah

Chong's position contested in Sabah

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Three businessmen have challenged the appointment of an ethnic Chinese as chief minister of Malaysia's Sabah state under a system of rotating the post to accommodate different ethnic groups, reports said on Friday.

They have filed a court injunction to halt the swearing-in of Chong Kah Kiat on March 27, the New Straits Time said.

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad last week named Chong, president of the Liberal Democratic Party, to succeed Osu Sukam from the nationally ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO).

The businessmen -- Kaiman Buangan, Abdul Rajik Arin and D. Ismail Jamlang -- contended that Chong's appointment was illegal and unlawful, because Chong's party did not command the majority in the state assembly and that there was no provision in the state constitution for the post to be rotated.

Chong's party holds two out of 54 seats in the state assembly.