Hajiji posing with visitors during the Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house hosted by him and wife at Dewan Sri Sulaman, Tuaran, om Saturday.
TUARAN: Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Hajiji Haji Noor said Sabah’s next state assembly elections will be held next year, after the present legislature’s term expires.
He said he was certain that the state assembly would not be dissolved earlier than it should.
Hajiji said although he has the prerogative to decide on the election date, he “does not know when that would be”.He has previously hinted at the possibility of holding the state polls this year.
The 16th Sabah elections were held on Sept 29, 2020.
The current state assembly will be automatically dissolved by October next year, after which a state election will need to be held within 60 days.
The chief minister said the state government wanted to make use of its remaining time in power to resolve critical issues faced by Sabahans.
“We still have a lot of work to carry out, specifically in resolving problems currently faced by the people, such as water issues,” said Hajiji, who is chairman of the ruling Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS).
Hajiji said the State Government will utilise its remaining term before the next state election to solve critical issues faced by the people, using its remaining time to solve problems such as water supply.
“The State Government’s term will end in September next year, and we still have a lot of work to be carried out, specifically in resolving problems currently faced by the people such as water issues, “ Hajiji added.
He also pointed out that even though the water issues are not new and were inherited from the previous State Government, but as a responsible it’s the ruling government’s responsibility to resolve them.
“Now that we have received the RM300 million allocation to implement several projects to solve water issues, we hope that the distribution of water to Kota Kinabalu and other districts can be smoother once the projects are completed.
“InsyaAllah, within this year, we can solve the implementation of these water projects,” he told reporters at a Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house hosted by him and his wife, Datuk Juliah Salag at Dewan Sri Sulaman in Tuaran on Saturday.
The GRS coalition headed by Hajiji consists of Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (GAGASAN) (26), Sabah Solidarity Party (STAR) (6), United Sabah Party (PBS) (7), United Sabah National Organisation (USNO) (0), Sabah People’s Hope Party (PHRS) (1), Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) (0) and Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) (1).