In a bid to end the unhealthy deadlock in Perak state, Pakatan Rakyat Menteri Besar Nizar Jamaluddin has sought an audience with the Sultan to brief him on three motions tabled and passed by the legislative assembly at a historic emergency sitting last week.
“Pakatan leaders had a meeting on Friday evening in which it was decided that I seek an appointment with Tuanku as early as possible. We have prepared the appointment letter which I will take to the palace on Tuesday morning,” said Nizar.
Chaos and political deadlock
Peninsular Malaysia’ second largest state has been plunged into chaos after an unpopular Feb 5 decision by the Perak Ruler to transfer power to an Umno-BN line-up backed by Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.
Nizar, who was then the incumbent Menteri Besar, had advised that the state assembly be dissolved and the mandate returned to the people of Perak to choose the leadership they wanted.
The Pakatan leader had argued that the majority claimed by Umno-BN was questionable and already being challenged in the courts.
Pakatan and Umno-BN have 28 seats each in the 59-seat assembly, but with the help of three defections, Najib laid claim to a slim majority. Sultan Azlan Shah had then chosen to go with him, rather than Nizar.
However, that fateful decision sparked an uproar from Perakians. In a survey carried out by the well-respected Merdeka Centre, 74 percent of the Perak people said they wanted fresh state-wide polls to break the political impasse.
They were also unhappy with the Umno-BN line-up because it had only one non-Malay assemblyman, and this did not represent the reality of state’s racial mix.
Yet, Umno-BN has insisted on clinging to power, perhaps knowing that its chances of victory would be slim given the hugely unpopular manner in which it had engineered the power grab.
Barrage of legal suits but deteriorating justice
A barrage of legal suits and counter-suits have since followed, leading to Tuesday’s emergency sitting called by Perak Speaker V Sivakumar. Again, Umno-BN boycotted the meet and instigated the police and state secretary to block Pakatan lawmakers from entering the legislative assembly hall.
Undeterred, Sivakumar convened the historic session under a leafy and decades-old raintree nearby to the secretariat building. With all 28 Pakatan lawmakers present, there was sufficient quorum to legitimise the assembly and the motions it endorsed, in spite of the unusual setting forced upon them by the Umno-BN in concert with the police and the state secretary.
The motions passed included a vote of confidence in Nizar as Menteri Besar, the dissolution of the state assembly and confirmation of the Speaker’s decision to suspend BN Menteri Besar Zambry Kadir and six executive councillors from attending meetings after they broke House rules.
“We had the quorum, we adjourned to a lawful place under the ‘yellow flame tree’ and we had a legal Speaker,” said Pantai Remis assemblyman Nga Kor Ming, adding that documentation for the tabled motions have also been completed and notice submitted to the Palace.
Said Bar Council president Ambiga Sreenevasan: “The situation is untenable and cries out for the one thing that will resolve it conclusively – fresh election. There is now a window of opportunity for this to happen. Let the people decide.”
Will the Sultan stand with his subjects or with Najib?
It now remains to be seen if Sultan Azlan will acknowledge the wishes of his subjects and grant Nizar his audience, or stand by Najib.
There has been a non-stop plethora of calls from not just Perakians, but Malaysians nationwide, and hundreds of civil society groups appealing to Sultan Azlan to grant a state-wide election.
“The present crisis in Perak could have been averted if His Royal Highness Sultan Azlan Shah had dissolved the legislative assembly on February 5. The present scenario in Perak is seen as a state without a legitimate government,” said Param Cumaraswamy, former UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers.
“The casualty in such an environment primarily is the rakyat. If the situation is not carefully addressed and arrested quickly the rule of law in Perak will be in jeopardy and anarchy will be the order of the day.”
Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, the Kelantan prince and well-respected veteran Umno politician, is the latest to join the chorus of voices.
“It may not be good for Barisan Nasional but we have no choice. We can’t go on with this impasse. I think that constitutional rule in Perak has collapsed and the only way to rectify the situation is to go back to the people. That would be the appropriate thing for the Ruler to do.”
Said veteran politician and MP for Ipoh Timur Lim Kit Siang: “The ball is in the court of Najib Razak, the Prime Minister-in-waiting who personally orchestrated the unethical, illegal and unconstitutional power grab in Perak – whether he is prepared to put national interests above his personal and Umno-BN interests.
“The Perak political crisis which has undermined national and international confidence in the legitimacy of his impending premiership and will cripple the second economic stimulus package he is to present to Parliament on March 10 in the face of the global financial meltdown.”
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