KOTA KINABALU, May 19 — Former chief minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman’s appearance at the Sabah Barisan Nasional Hari Raya open house here has fuelled speculation of his possible return to politics at the 15^th general election (GE15)

After keeping a low profile since the premature Sabah election in September 2020, this was now Musa’s second public appearanc after he attended the state level Kaamatan launching in Keningau earlier this month.

At today’s event, he was also given a prominent seat at the main table with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaacob.

Musa was placed next to Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor and Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah president Tan Sri Joseph Kurup.

Also at the main table were Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan and Sabah BN chief Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin, along with other state party leaders like Parti Solidarity Tanah Airku president Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan.

Bung, who is also a Sabah deputy chief minister, dismissed views that Musa’s presence indicated his return to politics.

“He is one of our leaders, so we invited him. No issue there,” he said when asked by reporters.

“People coming here doesn’t mean they are wanting to contest,” he laughed when further pressed.

Ismail Sabri is on a visit to Sabah till tomorrow, for the launch of the Keluarga Malaysia aspiration roadshow.

Sabah’s longest-serving chief minister, Musa’s reign was cut short by a controversial decision following the 2018 general election when he and rival Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal were both sworn in as chief minister.

Musa then left for London where he claimed to be seeking medical attention, while a court case suing Sabah’s Yang diPertua Negeri for constitutional breach ensued.

Musa made an attempt to return to politics by staging an attempted takeover of the then Warisan state government by getting a majority of state assemblymen to back him as chief minister, but was foiled when Shafie successfully called for a snap election.

Musa then he did not contest in the September elections, not even to defend his Sungai Sibuga seat.

At the time, relations between him and the BN leadership were tense, but Musa remained heavily involved in the politic al background and even showed up to campaign for several Perikatan Nasional candidates.

He has kept a relatively low public profile since then, emerging only to defend his position in his court case against the Yang diPertua Negeri and Shafie, and his later corruption charges, which were eventually dropped after the federal government changed leadership.

https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2022/05/19/musa-aman-sets-comeback-talk-going-with-appearance-at-sabah-bn-aidilfitri-do/7703