The constitutional crisis triggered by BN in Perak nine years ago bit the coalition in Sabah today, as the Federal Court ruling on the Perak case was the basis for the Kota Kinabalu High Court's dismissal of Musa Aman's bid to become chief minister.

Justice Yew Jen Kie cited the ruling in deciding that Warisan president Shafie Apdal was the lawful Sabah chief minister today.

According to Bernama, Yew said that based on the apex court ruling, it was clear that when Musa and his cabinet were deemed to have vacated their respective office, it paved the way for governor Juhar Mahiruddin to appoint Shafie as chief minister.

“Accordingly, the answer to the issue, whether the appointment of the second defendant (Shafie) is unconstitutional, null and void, is in negative,” she was cited as saying in her summary judgment.

Yew also cited the Federal Court ruling in saying there was no need for a vote of no-confidence to be held in the state assembly to establish if the chief minister had lost majority support.

“This fact can be established through extraneous sources,” she said.

BN had staged a coup in Perak in February 2009 when three Pakatan Rakyat state lawmakers declared themselves as independents.

The trio then supported BN to form the Perak state government, which led to a series of court battles between former PAS menteri besar Nizar Jamaluddin and Umno's Zambry Abdul Kadir.

Ultimately, the Federal Court, in February 2010, declared Zambry as the lawful menteri besar.