Police fire tear gas at Pakatan supporters outside Palace and into Mosque Compound

By Wong Choon Mei | suarakeAdilan | 6 Feb 09

Police today fired tear gas into a crowd of more than 10,000 who had marched from Masjid Ubudiyyah to the Palace some 300 metres away, in a show of support for Menteri Besar Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin, and to protest the Sultan’s decision to ignore his recommendation for a snap election.

Federal Reserve Unit personnel have begun charging at the crowd, which has refused to back down. The unnecessarily aggressive police action has also forced some to retaliate by picking up stones from along the road and hurling them at the FRU personnel.

The supporters, who earlier joined Nizar for special prayers, had retreated into the Masjid grounds, but the FRU and police are firing more tear-gas cylinders into the car park and compound of the mosque.

The standoff comes as the Sultan refused to heed the widespread call of the Perak people for free and fair election to chose their own leaders.

Instead, the Ruler had a day ago agreed to accept a shaky and questionable line-up assembled by Deputy Prime Minister and incoming Umno president, Najib Abdul Razak, to form the new state government.

Falling on deaf ears

Despite all-out efforts by the Pakatan Rakyat to soft-land the episode and return the mandate to the Perak folk, their pleas to the Palace have fallen on deaf ears.

Earlier today, Perak state assembly Speaker V Sivakumar called for a special sitting of the House to determine who actually controls the assembly.

According to Sivakumar, he has already sent a letter to Sultan Azlan Shah to seek his consent, and to postpone the swearing-in ceremony of a new Menteri Besar appointed by the Barisan Nasional at 3.30 pm today.

“To resolve the critical problem in Perak, I have appealed to the Sultan to allow a state assembly sitting,” Sivakumar told a press conference.

Incumbent Menteri Besar Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin has said the Pakatan Rakyat was still the legitimate government in the state of Perak, regardless of yesterday’s controversial decision by the Sultan.

“We are still in government. We have not dissolved the assembly,” Nizar said. “I will still go to my office. They have no right to stop me.”

Despite the enormous pressure heaped on him, the amiable and bespectacled PAS leader has won the affection of the Perak people.

Refusing to be bullied by the system, he and his team of councilors, including DAP leader Ngeh Koo Ham, went to work this morning.They were allowed to enter the state secretariat building.

However, minutes later, they were escorted out of his room by the state police. Nizar was also prevented from giving a press conference in his office.

Said Perak CPO Deputy Comm Zulkifli Abdullah: “We are there to help facilitate the transition of power and to ensure the smooth running of the government machinery.

“We will also take the necessary steps to ensure the swearing in of the new Menteri Besar takes place as planned.”

Special prayers today at Masjid Ubudiyyah

Meanwhile, Nizar has asked for another audience with Sultan Azlan Shah to appeal the decision to accept a new state government formed by the Barisan Nasional and three Independents.

It is the Pakatan’s belief that the three Independents - its former members - have already resigned their seats and therefore ineligible to be a part of the state assembly.

The three-party coalition of KeADILan, DAP and PAS want the Sultan to dissolve the assembly and allow for a snap election.

This would allow the people of Perak to choose for themselves their own leaders, rather than have a dubious and shaky line-up assembled by Deputy Premier Najib Abdul Razak forced upon them.

Nizar said the Pakatan would not attend the swearing-in ceremony of the BN state government, which it does not recognise.

Instead, he will be attending special prayers at the Ubudiyyah mosque in Bukit Chandan, Kuala Kangsar, next to the palace. The public has also been invited to attend the prayers.

BN-appointee Zambry Kadir will be sworn in as Menteri Besar at 3.30 pm today, the others will be sworn in on Tuesday at 10 am.

Darkness unvanquished

However, in a controversial decision, the Sultan chose to side with Najib, agreeing to a new BN government. The Sultan also made a further unprecedented move to remove Nizar as Menteri Besar - a decision that has shocked many in the legal fraternity.

The Pakatan, which has the same number of 28 assemblymen as the Umno-BN in the state assembly, said any decision to force a Menteri Besar to step can only be done by other lawmakers in the state assembly, and not by a royal order. This is because the Constitution empowered the Ruler to appoint, but not to sack.

Said Nizar: ““I was forced to seek dissolution of the state assembly as the Election Commission would not conduct by-elections for Behrang and Changkat Jering. Then I was asked to resign.

“I appeal to the Sultan to adhere to what is stipulated in constitution. The Sultan must allow the state assembly to decide so that a vote of no-confidence can be carried out against me, if this is what they want. That is best and proper way to remove me.”

Said KeADILan information chief Tian Chua: “Given that the Sultan previously wrote in his own book that a Ruler’s role is purely formal and that he should follow the recommendations of his Menteri Besar, that His Majesty himself could now chose to reject Nizar’s request for a snap election is surprising.

“If this was because the people of Perak were against Nizar, if this was to protect Perak against oppression, then there is cause for argument. But here, very clearly, the people of Perak want a snap election. They are not against Nizar either. So obviously, the question ‘why’ arises.

“Anyway, this is what March 2008 was about. This is why Pakatan urges all Perakians and all Malaysians to stand up for their rights. Darkness still pervades our society. It has not been vanquished.”