Civil society groups have called for transparency and rule of law to prevail in Perak, as lawmakers there gear up for what could be a key turning point in the political deadlock that has crippled the state for nearly a month now.
In particular, Transparency International has warned of the hardening and harmful perception amongst Malaysians that the Umno-Barisan Nasional was using the federal apparatus unfairly to hang onto power both in the state and in rest of the nation.
“This episode has washed up a lot of dirt and the debris that we are seeing is the result of democratic processes not being allowed to find expression at the ballot box and elsewhere,” said Ramon Navaratnam, president of Transparency International Malaysia. <snip>
More cheating to come
Perak legislative Speaker V Sivakumar has called for an emergency sitting of the state assembly on Tuesday to file a motion of confidence in Pakatan Rakyat leader Nizar Jamaluddin as Menteri Besar and also to dissolve the state assembly.
The move is aimed at paving the way for fresh state-wide polls, which would return the mandate to the Perak people to vote in the government and leadership of their choice.
But given the intense rivalry from Umno-BN, the plan may be sabotaged by the far-reaching arm of Deputy Premier Najib Abdul Razak - who is also incoming Umno president.<snip>
Raja Nazrin, the regent of Perak, a day ago called for regard for the law and respect for lawful institutions.
“A lawless system breeds a lawless culture, which in turn suggests lawless governance and lawless government,” he said at a conference for youths.
Perak is in a state of crisis - both politically and constitutionally. The stalemate will start to seriously harm its economy if steps are not taken to resolve the situation brought about by the Sultan’s decision to transfer power from the Pakatan to an unpopular line-up backed by Najib.
The Feb 5 decision was lambasted by the Pakatan, which has taken their battle to the courts and launched a barrage of legal action against Najib’s line-up. It was also condemned by nearly all civil society groups in the country including the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam), Transparency International, the Bar Council and scores of others.<read all>
No comments:
Post a Comment