The client cannot exercise his right to legal recourse because there is now no village chief for Chin to serve a legal notice to, as required by the native court.
“So the case has come to a standstill,” he told FMT.
Chin, who is a vice-president of Parti Cinta Sabah, says his client’s case illustrates the problems caused by the state government’s dismissal of all village chiefs last year and its delay in replacing them.
News reports last year said new village chiefs were expected to take over in September, but this has not happened.
“A village chief ensures the continuity of native customs,” Chin said.
“If a native couple wants to get engaged, the village chief acts as a witness for matters like dowry agreements. If there is a dispute between villagers, a village chief will mediate and take the matter to the native court. And it is the village chief who decides on the compensation to be paid for offences against customs, such as adultery and other kinds of mischief.”
He said many people’s lives had been affected by the absence of village chiefs and added that a further delay in appointing them might cause a heavy backlog of native court cases.
Political activist Zainnal Ajamain described the situation as “a joke” and said it supported his allegation that the Warisan-led government “doesn’t know what it’s doing”.
“I can’t understand why they did not find replacements for the village chiefs before terminating the ones who were serving,” he said.
“To discharge people and then look for replacements is the wrong way of doing things. Does the state government not understand the implications of not having village chiefs?”
He noted that the role of village chiefs is crucial in the verification of documents.
He said Warisan might lose the next election if it continues to cause frustration with its way of doing things.
Political analyst Lee Kuok Tiung of Universiti Malaysia Sabah said the issue reflected poorly on the efficiency of the new government.
“If this is not resolved quickly, it could become an election issue as it affects daily life,” he said.
The assistant state minister for law and native affairs, Jannie Lasimbang, told FMT the selection of village chiefs was mandated to district committees, with each committee chaired either by the district officer or local council president.
“The appointments are delayed mainly because the ministry has not yet received the names from the committee chairmen”, she said.
She said the ministry is doing its best to get village chiefs appointed by early next month.
“I urge all district officers and parties in the districts that have not completed the selection to move forward quickly for the interests of the people,” she added.