Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin will once again seek the Sultan’s consent to dissolve the state assembly as soon as the documents from today’s extraordinary emergency sitting held under a tree are ready.The ousted Menteri Besar said this at a press conference after the assembly was convened on a residential road under a rain tree, a tantalising 200 metres or so away from the formal assembly in the state secretariat building.
Three votes were passed in the fourth meeting of the first session of the 12th assembly under the tree this morning. The motions were to express confidence in Nizar as mentri besar; calling on Nizar to seek a dissolution of the state assembly; and endorsing Sivakumar’s suspension of Zambry and the de facto BN executive council.
Nizar expressed his sadness at the assembly being forced to meet in a most unusual location but said that they had no choice.
“We were forced to meet under a tree due to the doctrine of necessity,” he told reporters. “State assemblymen were notified to attend but were blocked by police. It’s sad that state representatives are being blocked from doing their duties. The whole world can see how this country, which is supposed to be advanced, holds an assembly sitting under a tree.”
DAP chairman Ngeh Koo Ham said that they would lodge police reports against the state secretariat and home affairs ministry according to the section 124 of the penal code which prohibits anyone from restraining members of the legislative assembly from performing their duties.
“The police are now taking orders from the clerk of the house instead of the speaker,” said Ngeh. “It’s very sad.”
He also rebutted allegations that PR was disrespecting the Sultan. “We are respecting the Sultan because we are following the law,” he said. “The Sultan says that all sessions must be held in the Dewan but we were forced to have it under a tree. The Barisan Nasional are the ones who are disrespecting the Sultan.”
Asked by reporters if he will persist in asking for a dissolution of the assembly if the Sultan rejects his request, Nizar replied that PR will keep persisting until they achieve it. “We will plead with the Sultan to dissolve the state assembly,” he said.
He also urged the public to remain calm and not to do anything provocative.
Asked whether the quorum present in the sitting was sufficient to pass the vote to dissolve the state assembly, Nizar replied that a quorum of one quarter was required and with the speaker and 27 out of a total of 59 state representatives in attendance, they had sufficient numbers.
Nizar also denied that the absence of the BN state representatives was due to them deliberately being left out from being notified and that notifications had been sent by fax and regular mail.
He also said that the suspension of the house secretary Abdullah Antong Sabri was lawful as the speaker had the power to appoint and dismiss the secretary.
While the press conference was going on in the DAP Perak headquarters, a multi-racial crowd of about 300 was being fired up outside by various speakers including Dr Hatta Mohd Ramli, Pas’s member of parliament from Kuala Krai, Kelantan.
No comments:
Post a Comment