Article 6(7) of the Sabah Constitution provides only for a majority, not a plurality, or relative majority - The ordinary meaning of majority cannot be plurality or relative majority

 by Ganesh Sahathevan 

There has been some noise recently about validity of the appointment of Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor as Chief Minister Sabah (photo above). An argument that is causing some confusion is premised on Article 6(7) of the Sabah State Constitution which provides:

“For the purpose of clause (3) of this Article, where a political party has won a majority of the elected seats of the Legislative Assembly in a general election, the leader of such political party, who is a member of the Legislative Assembly shall be the member of the Legislative Assembly who is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of the Assembly.”

Proponents of the Article 6(7) argue that while no party won the majority of seats, Hajiji's party did not win  the largest  number of seats and hence he ought not have been invited to form government.The argument then is that the leader of the party that has won the largest number of seats ought to have been invited to form government. Proponents of this argument go so far as to say that the ordinary meaning of "majority" is "relative majority". This position is absurd, when one comprehends that "relative majority" conveys a wholly different concept, that of plurality. 

The word "plurality" is not found in Article 6(7), or any other part of  of the Sabah State Constitution.

Article  6(7) requires that the Government make an assessment as to  "who is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of the Assembly".Whether of not that that would be the leader of the party that has won the largest number of seats is a matter of fact that may or may not be a factor that the Governor needs to consider when making his assessment. In simple terms, it all depends on the particular circumstances of each case.

END 

Reference with pictures

What is the meaning of majority?
Majority means the biggest part of something, or you can say a number that is greater than half of a total number. If you say, " I get majority of share". It means you get 51 out of 100. Majority must be more than 50 percent.
Majority is that group or party that is the greater part of a large group.
In India, Hindu is in majority.
Majority is the state of the age of legally being an adult. Eighteen is the age of majority in most of the countries.
Majority in sentence:

1. The majority of people like Youtube.
2. Modi was elected with the majority of votes.
3. The age of majority in India is 18 years.

What is the meaning of plurality?
Plurality means simply a large number, or a usually large number of things.
Plurality in sentence:

1. He won the election by receiving a plurality of the vote.
2. Manmohan Singh was elected with a plurality, not a majority.

What is the difference between Majority and Plurality?
In many articles you have seen the use of word "majority" where the word "plurality" should be; this happens with many writers as they don't know the difference between "majority" and "plurality". 
                        As we have seen the meaning, majority means more than half, while plurality means highest number within a greater number.
                       We try to get the meaning with an example, if 100 members of a club vote in an election which has four candidates, one of them must receive at least 51 votes to have a majority. If none of the candidates receives 51 votes, none has a majority. In such a situation, the candidate receiving the highest number of votes is said to have a plurality. Thus if A receives 46 votes, B receives 42, and C receives 12, A has received the plurality. - According to Thomas Elliott Berry.

According to Oxford, plurality is the number of votes given to one person, political party, etc. when this number is less than 50% but more than any other single person, etc. receives. 

According to Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary, plurality is a number of votes that is more than the number of votes for any other candidate or party but that is not more than half of the total number of votes.

Questions on the Web:

What does plurality vote mean?
Plurality vote means a candidate gets more votes than any other, but does not get a majority.

How many votes are needed for a plurality?
Let us assume that three candidates A, B, C receive different numbers of votes. A receives 46 votes, B receives 42, and C receives 12, A has received the plurality.

Is a plurality of votes always the same as a majority of votes?
No, a plurality of votes means the highest number of votes, but less than 50%. If the number of votes more than 50%, it becomes majority of votes.

What is plurality winner?
Plurality winner gains highest number of votes, but less than 50% of votes. For example, if A receives 46 votes, B receives 42, and C receives 12, A has received the plurality, and A is the plurality winner.

Is a majority more than half?
Yes, a majority is more than half. It must be at least 51% of something.