So is the assembly under a tree valid?

Analysis Malaysianinsider | By Leslie Lau Consultant Editor | KUALA LUMPUR, March 4,20009

While Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders are saying yesterday’s Perak state assembly sitting held under a tree has made Malaysia a laughing stock, a court order served on the Speaker today suggests it may well have been valid.

And if it is valid, that would mean the three motions approved hurriedly by the sweaty state assemblymen while standing by a roadside in Ipoh is also legally binding.

The document served on Sivakumar today reads: “It is hereby ordered that the 1st defendant YB Sivakumar a/l Varatharaju Naidu is restraint from convening any unlawful meetings purporting it to be a meeting of the Perak State Legislative Assembly.”

Legal experts say a court order has no retrospective effect and as such the question of whether yesterday’s “under the tree assembly” is valid is still unanswered.

BN lawyers may need to seek further relief from the courts to have the “under the tree assembly” declared invalid.

But that will stretch to the limit the question of whether it can be considered a judicial review of assembly proceedings, which is not allowed under the federal constitution.

A more significant poser are the three motions approved by the “under the tree assembly”.

And probably the most significant of the three is the endorsement of Sivakumar’s decision earlier to suspend de facto Menteri Besar Datuk Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir and his executive council members from the assembly for between 12 and 18 months.

BN leaders had contended previously that the suspension was not valid unless endorsed by the assembly.

So, are their suspensions now valid?

That is the subject of the court action by Zambry against Sivakumar.

There is no doubt these points will be raised in court, and the judge hearing the case will have little precedent to rely on as the Perak crisis is most certainly in uncharted waters now.

By restraining Sivakumar from holding any further assemblies, the BN legal team has bought time for their clients to prevent the Speaker and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders from inflicting further dents in the credibility of their administration.

Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin, who maintains he is still the menteri besar, and whose administration was endorsed by the “under the tree assembly,” will now try to seek consent from the Sultan to dissolve the state assembly.

If that fails, PR leaders will want to wait until the Sultan convenes an assembly, which must happen by May because of a constitutionally mandated schedule.

The validity of the “under the tree assembly” will be of paramount importance then.

If the suspensions against Zambry and his executive council are lifted, they can with the majority they will have in the legislature vote out Sivakumar as Speaker.

But if the suspensions are not lifted and if the endorsement from the “under the tree assembly” is valid then Zambry’s administration will certainly lose a vote of no-confidence.

The only thing that is certain now in Perak is the fact that the state’s administration is dysfunctional.